PGMA gets into
speakership row

By now, they may have succeeded in settling the simmering deadlock between the two camps in the torrid speakership fight in the House. Yesterday, members of the House were been instructed by the chamber's leaders to return yesterday to Manila and to proceed to Malacañang where the President is reportedly poised to help hammer out a formula that could break the deadlock on the fight for the speakership of the House.

I learned about this development Saturday night when Rep Monico Puentevella informed me that he was scheduled to return to Manila yesterday to attend the Malacañang meeting with the President.

Saturday, what had been intended as a sure-fire win by Speaker Jose de Venecia appeared to have altered in the face of a determined effort by the members supporting Rep. Pablo Garcia of Cebu, the contender for the leadership of the Chamber.

Garcia had pinned his hopes on the outcome of the balloting whether to adopt the viva voce or secret balloting system to settle the speakership issue.

That placed the President squarely on the chopping block. Now she has to intervene in the issue and try and settle the unresolved rope.

Garcia actually pointed out that De Venecia should not have objected to a secret balloting, claiming that he had the majority of the House members in his pocket.

So, can she untie the Gordian hot?

Cong. Newks was confident that Joe De Venecia was going to get it. The question - why should the President's intervention be needed if that were the case?

In short, the Garcia bloc must control a sizable number of the majority members of the House that the incumbent speaker was not too sure that he could hold on to those who had pledged to support him in the final count.

Well, by today, we shall know whether the President had succeeded or not in her effort to settle the speakership issue.

The main issue against Joe DV is that he had been too long speaker of the House. But Garcia, too, does not provide a visible alternative. The grand old man of Cebu is precisely that - at 85, he may no longer be considered a workable alternative.

That aside disturbed my enjoyment of the most memorable celebration of my diamond birth anniversary at the Sugarland Hotel Saturday night.

The ballroom where the affair was staged by my 11 children and 25 grandchildren, was crowded with guests, most of them stayed the entire affair which, for me, remains as a treasured memory.

Actually, my birthday falls on August 23 yet. But the children decided to celebrate it Saturday because they are all around, with none absent.

Maté played the role of the impresario. But Inday and the rest took turns in assuring that each one play his role in the presentation. But, by the way, I was among the guests who saw it for the first time.

As usual, the piece de resistance were Nenen, and Maria Anne at the piano. Ronan Ferrer, a tenor from Bago City, sang with Nenen.

But they were preceded on stage by two pop music singers - Ronnie Diao and Joey Casal, playing the piano and organ.

Cong. Puentevella was surprised with Joey's presence here. He is one of the top players in the Metro Manila scene, he said and he never expected to see him in Bacolod.

Well, both were hired for me by Tony Baranda, a PR man who used to be a very close friend of mine.

Newks, himself, later sang "Too young", the theme song of Nene, my late wife, and me. She died seven years ago of a stroke. And the children just insisted that I don't forget her memory. That celebration was as much for her as it was for me.

Among the guests who remained until the end of the program were Monsignor John Liu and Marcos Pilar. The latter, although suffering from a faltering heart, used to be like me, among the pioneers of the Sacred Heart Seminary.

There were also Fr. Gerry Almenaza, the seminary rector, and Fr. Rene Paglinawan of the Agustines-Recoletos. Himself a musician and composer, Fr. Rene, however, opted to just listen instead of delivering his own piece.

My thanks also to the members of the Neo-Catechumenal community of Bata and the members of the Bacolod Capitol Lions Club, headed by president Mila del Castillo. The surprise was former president Fernando Go who arrived with his wife from Manila.

I was extra grateful for the presence of Nena de Leon and her daughter Carrisa and her husband, Atty. Jack Maalat. They were long time friends in Fabrica, Sagay. And Nena told me she enjoyed the family presentation of the children and grandchildren.

There were also media personalities around. Especially Ninfa and Perla Leonardia with Primo Esleyer and Carla Gomez of the Visayan DAILY STAR and Pert Toga and Edgar Cadagat of the Negros Daily Bulletin.

Members of the Graciano Lopez Jaena clan were also around. Especially worth mentioning are Dr. Maritel Ledesma, Mrs. Violeta Banol, Nene de Leon, Gilbert Hollero and scores more.

Willy Gonzales, chair of the Negros Women of Tomorrow and the NEDF, stayed the entire duration of the program. Actually it lasted until the wee hours of the morning with the children and grandchildren mixing it up with the guests like Maquiling Ascalon and Ivy Galant on the dance floor.

One reason why the kids pushed through with the celebration was that my Junior and his wife, Merci, plus their two kids are going back to Dublin, Ireland, by the first week of August.

The others present in the affair are supposed to write about it. All I can say -- it was an experience worth treasuring.*

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