Rep. Jose Carlos Lacson (Neg. Occ., 3 rd District) yesterday said he believes former House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. should step down as president of the Lakas - Christian Muslim Democrats.

He said de Venecia needs to step down because of his strange relationship with President Gloria Arroyo or Lakas will disintegrate to a minority party.

Rep. Monico Puentevella ( Bacolod ), on the other hand, said he can live with de Venecia's staying on as party president if he “behaves”.

“But if he continues to be a bad boy he will have problems with our partymates, not necessarily me,” Puentevella said.

Puentevella said even former President Fidel Ramos might let de Venecia go then.

De Venecia was ousted last week as Speaker of the House by Arroyo allies, including her two sons, Diosdado and Juan Miguel.

The former House Speaker told foreign correspondents last week he is prepared to expose widespread corruption in the Arroyo administration.

De Venecia said his ouster from the House was “personal vendetta” because his son blew the whistle on an overpriced telecoms deal between the government and China 's state-run ZTE firm from which certain officials were allegedly expecting kickbacks.

The fate of de Venecia will be decided when the Lakas – CMD national directorate meets on February 21, Prospero Pichay, Lakas vice president for recruitment, said earlier.*CPG

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