A refurbished Congress to greet President for SONA
De Venecia in Thailand on Monday
By Christian V. Esguerra
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 18:57:00 07/26/2008
MANILA, Philippines -- The country’s “most unpopular” President may find herself a bit disoriented when she steps into the halls of the House of Representatives for her State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday.
Congressmen will roll out the red carpet for President Macapagal-Arroyo but will be doing so this time after spending a whopping P90 million in initial renovation that has turned the old Batasan Complex into a modern and classy structure.
Arroyo -- who’s fending off dismal trust and satisfaction ratings going into her eighth Sona -- will also have an unfamiliar companion at the rostrum. Gone will be ousted Speaker Jose De Venecia, with whom she shared the dais the last seven occasions.
Arroyo will deliver her SONA days after being described in a Social Weather Station survey as the country's "most unpopular" leader since democracy was restored in 1986. She got a net satisfaction rating of negative 38 points in the June poll.
De Venecia, now an “ordinary” congressman since being unseated by Malacañang allies last February, said on Saturday he would not attend this year’s SONA. He said he would instead fly to Bangkok for a United Nations forum on good governance.
Missing the SONA would apparently spare the Pangasinan lawmaker the awkward situation of having to view his former ally from “down under,” in the company of legislators other than the House speaker and Senate president.
De Venecia indicated that he would not be missing a lot anyway.
“All her SONA’s have been 50 percent factual and 50 percent exaggeration,” he told the Inquirer. "She needs to tell the truth as a first step to addressing the problems of the nation."
In De Venecia’s place will be Speaker Prospero Nograles who said his first SONA as speaker would be “an exciting historical experience.”
“I hope Mindanao will notice that for the very first time there will sit someone ‘promdi’ in the rostrum,” the Davao lawmaker, the first speaker from the south, said in a text message.
“I hope I won’t get nervous and start to bang the gavel at the wrong time and for the wrong purpose.”
Possible jitters aside, the "new-look" House of Representatives is considered to rival any other parliamentary structure elsewhere. Once renovations are completed in 2010, secretary general Marilyn Yap said the lower chamber would have spent a total of P200 million.
Until Saturday, workers were rushing finishing touches on the initial phase of renovation that began in the second week of June. Both the north and south wings of the complex have been widened, the flooring replaced with sparkling tiles for a plush atmosphere.
Many of the toilets are also now more deserving of being located around the august halls of Congress. The rest rooms on the main lobby, for instance, can now compare with a five-star hotel’s with their cozy lighting and tiles.
And one should see the building facade. It has been covered with steel panels apparently to conceal cracks, washed out color, and other blemishes of old. Over all, the face of the new House is stylish and more welcoming.
Yap said the current renovation was only 20 percent of the planned facelift. When everything’s done, she said all hearing and conference rooms, individual offices of congressmen, and the entire cooling system would have been upgraded.
Yap said the facelift plan was first presented by the House’s engineering department to then Speaker De Venecia in 2004. She said De Venecia gave the go-signal but wanted only small renovations at a time.
Nograles later expedited the facelift into phases, probably in time for his first SONA as speaker. Yap said Nograles also wanted the new Batasan to be a “showcase” along with Nograles’s being the first speaker from Mindanao.
“He’s on a legacy mode,” she said. “Beyond the renovation, he really wants to perform. That’s why he’s killing himself so the House could pass 87 bills until December.”
Yap said the idea was also to turn the House into a tourist destination, much like other parliaments abroad. “We want to see students visiting the complex and be proud of it.”
Majority Leader Arthur Defensor said the upgraded House would help the institution cast off its “trapo” image.
“If it can’t be totally eliminated,” he told the Inquirer, “at least it can be drastically reduced.”
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