JdV: Parliamentary gov't
by July no longer a dream
BY CARLA GOMEZ

"We are no longer dreaming, hopefully we will have the first free unicameral parliamentary government in the Philippines by the first week of July," House Speaker Jose de Venecia said yesterday.

"It is the final hope, the final salvation for the Filipino people," said de Venecia, who was in Bacolod and Negros Occidental yesterday for a series of meetings to push for Charter change, as part of a nationwide campaign.

De Venecia said the push for a unicameral parliamentary government has the support of the congressmen of Western Visayas, including 100 percent of those in Negros Occidental.

Let GMA step down first,
militants tell de Venecia
BY CARLA GOMEZ

Leaders of militant groups in Negros Occidental aired varied reasons for their opposition to Charter change at a dialog with House Speaker Jose de Venecia at the Capitol in Bacolod City yesterday, but were one in calling for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to resign.

Our having different views is the democratic way, but we are one in the belief that Arroyo must go because she is the biggest problem of the nation, Rodolfo Parreño of the Negros Movement for Moral Regeneration told de Venecia at the dialog arranged by Gov. Joseph Marañon and Vice Governor Isidro Zayco.

Speaker urges negotiation
on BREDCO controversy
BY CARLA GOMEZ

The Bacolod City government and the management of the Bacolod Real Estate Development Corp. port should sit down immediately instead of going into a contentious debate that will turn off foreign and local investors, House Speaker Jose de Venecia said yesterday.

"I invite both sides to sit down immediately and resolve their problem amicably for the good of the people of Bacolod and Negros," he said, adding that the parties concerned could also ask the president or other third parties to intervene to help them reach some settlement.

The speaker was responding to a question on whether it is right for the city government to take over the BREDCO port management as it threatened to do so after no agreement was reached on the amount of compensation to be paid the city for the use of the port. The city government is seeking compensation of P17.5 million from the present P800,000 annual rental it has been receiving from BREDCO for more than 10 years. However, BREDCO wants to pay only P1.4 million a year.