MANILA, Philippines -- The members of the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi) in the House of Representatives agreed unanimously to support the moves to replace Speaker Jose de Venecia, two sources who attended the party meeting and interviewed separately told the Philippine Daily Inquirer late Wednesday night.

Both sources confirmed that all who attended the party meeting including the President?s sons, Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel ?Mikey? Arroyo and Camarines Sur Rep. Diosdado ?Dato? Macapagal-Arroyo, signed the manifesto expressing loss of confidence in the leadership of De Venecia in the House.

One of the sources said Deputy Speaker Girlie Villarosa also signed.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo may have told her allies to back off from the move to topple De Venecia, but her sons are purportedly in the thick of the action.

Former Negros Oriental Rep. Jacinto Paras told the Inquirer by phone that it was a ?unanimous position? of those present to promptly replace the Speaker.

The announcement

Reached for official comment on how the Kampi meeting on the speakership row went, Kampi official Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte said: ?We?ve discussed the leadership crisis and after a thorough review of the matter, we have unanimously decided to take a stand.?

?But before we make our announcement publicly, we agreed that we should first talk with the Speaker. I will be calling on the Speaker before we make the announcement,? Villafuerte said in a telephone interview.

Separate sources also confirmed that 46 out of the more than 50 Kampi lawmakers in the House attended the meeting and signed the manifesto.

Arroyo sons lead ouster drive

Mikey Arroyo hosted a meeting on Saturday at the family-owned Mikey?s Grill in Pasay City, at which the supposed contender for the speakership, Davao City Rep. Prospero Nograles, was present, according to a source in the administration coalition who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Dato Arroyo was also present, along with 20 other members of the House and two former congressmen, said the source, who also alleged that money changed hands and promises of cash and projects were made after the meeting.

Cash for showing up

?The money ? was given just for showing up, but a more substantial amount plus projects would follow if the drive succeeds,? the source said.

In Malacañang, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita Wednesday tried to dissociate the President from the ouster move.

Asked if she gave her sons an instruction similar to what she had issued to her allies, Ermita said he was in no position to say:

?From where I sit and from what I know, I don?t think there was any such guidance. Try to imagine, how would the President give me the instruction to tell [her sons] to slow down on this talk about leadership change [in the House] -- unless the President also knows, and may have somehow spoken with Congressman Mikey?

?I?m not sure that for sure she has [talked to her sons]. But I?m very sure Congressman Mikey, being a responsible politician, would understand the pronouncements of the President, who is the chair [of the ruling Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats].?

Mikey Arroyo himself told the Inquirer that his mother should not intervene in the House?s internal affairs:

?Like many of our coalition allies in the House are saying, the President will not and should not meddle in the internal situation of the House.

?[She] should let the developments unfold by [themselves] without Palace intervention. The Palace should respect the difference of the executive and legislative branches.
?That?s me talking as a congressman.?

Clamor for change

Cracks in the House leadership behind De Venecia became apparent Wednesday after two committee chairpersons -- Palawan Rep. Abraham Mitra of agriculture and Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez of oversight -- cited a purported clamor for change and openly sought his ouster.

A third committee chair -- Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella of transportation -- said the Speaker should rein his son and namesake, Jose ?Joey? de Venecia III, from criticizing Ms Arroyo and her husband if he did not want a serious challenge to his leadership.

?If he can?t discipline his son, what will stop those in the House from moving against him? The Arroyo sons are in the House. Joey is an outsider,? Puentevella said in a news forum in Quezon City.

Puentevella said the wounds created by Joey de Venecia?s allegations against the President?s husband, Jose Miguel ?Mike? Arroyo, in connection with the since aborted National Broadband Network deal with China?s ZTE Corp. had not even healed completely.

And yet, Puentevella said, Joey de Venecia was again imputing ill motives on the man -- a reference to his statement on Tuesday that Mike Arroyo was behind the ouster move against the Speaker.

?I know for a fact that the First Gentleman is not involved in these ouster moves,? Puentevella said.

Puentevella also pointed out that while De Venecia was claiming that he, Ms Arroyo and former President Fidel Ramos were a united front for Lakas, his own son was saying that Mike Arroyo was plotting against the Speaker.

?The President?s allies in the House are hurt,? Puentevella said. ?I?m sure they will not just sit and watch the parade go by.?

Still Lakas member

Nograles said he had information that the President?s sons and brother-in-law, Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio Arroyo, were backing him as replacement for De Venecia.

Indeed, Mikey Arroyo said he had yet to make up his mind on who to support in the ouster move against De Venecia. He added that he was not a party to the move.

?Although I have taken a leave of absence from Lakas, I remain a member of the majority. And as a member of the majority, I will abide by the way the majority will vote on the issue,? he told the Inquirer. ?I will just watch as things develop.?

Mikey Arroyo also said he was in no position to confirm Ermita?s statement last weekend that Ms Arroyo had called from Davos -- where she attended the World Economic Forum -- to tell him to relay to administration congressmen that the move to oust De Venecia was ?unauthorized.?

?I?m not privy [to their conversation],? said the President?s eldest child. He said he had yet to talk to his mother as well regarding the situation in the House.

Expectedly, Mikey Arroyo cleared his father of involvement in the move to oust De Venecia:

?First of all, my father is sick. Second, he is abroad. How can he be part of these moves?

?The thing with Joey is that he is fond of allegations ... without the benefit of the truth.?

On good terms

At his regular press briefing Wednesday, Ermita said the NBN-ZTE deal was being used by ?some people to continuously fan whatever differences the President and the Speaker [may have] on that issue.?

?We got word that even the son of the Speaker, Joey de Venecia, had already written Senator [Alan Peter] Cayetano that he?s not appearing anymore in the Senate [inquiry into the issue],? Ermita said.

With this, he said, the President and the Speaker, Lakas chair and president, respectively, were now on good terms.

?If I were (the Speaker), I will stop talking about it and, for that matter, continue to influence people that he can influence, especially his son, [against] talking about it in the future,? Ermita said.

Suarez said the group of congressmen that supported Cebu Rep. Pablo Garcia in his fight for the speakership against De Venecia in August 2007 had decided that they were going to move to oust the latter.

?We expect 2008 to be a good year. We are 91-percent optimistic that it will be a good year. To achieve that, you need a good relationship with the President. Now, if that relationship is strained, there should be a change in the leadership,? Suarez told the Inquirer.

In a statement, Suarez assailed De Venecia for purportedly using his son as ?a tool to pressure? Ms Arroyo to back his speakership.

?What kind of ally can you call someone like Jose de Venecia, who lets loose his own son to use against the President when it suits his needs and purposes?? Suarez said, adding:

?Joey de Venecia can just spew more falsehoods, double hearsay and triple hearsay to malign the First Family anytime he wants to, so long as his father finds it necessary to use him as a tool to cling to the speakership.?