MANILA, Philippines -- An administration congressman wants ousted Speaker Jose de Venecia investigated for his involvement in the country’s controversial agreement for joint oil explorations in the South China Sea with China and Vietnam.

Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Villafuerte, chair of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s party Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino, made the motion on Tuesday while interpellating Senior Deputy Minority Leader Roilo Golez, who delivered a privilege speech asking for an investigation into charges that the agreement was a “sellout” of our Spratly Islands claim in exchange for China loans.

“I move that the former speaker, Pangasinan Rep. Jose de Venecia, be investigated as well,” Villafuerte said on the floor.

“He (De Venecia) has released so many statements and press releases taking pride in being the broker of this deal,” he added.

De Venecia had earlier denied that the joint exploration agreement was a “sellout” or was linked to the release of Chinese loans to the Philippines.

“No, zero,” De Venecia, said when asked whether the agreement was in any way connected to Chinese loans to the Philippines.

“(The agreement turns) an area of potential conflict into a zone of peace and development,” De Venecia had said.

De Venecia said that once the trilateral venture completes its seismic data-gathering in the seas near and around the disputed Spratlys islets, “the next step is to identify the most-likely petroleum sites and to start exploratory drilling.”

“With the price of crude hitting the roof, we should have oil in our front yard and back yard,” De Venecia said in his recent meeting with Chair Wu Bangguo of the National People’s Congress at the Great Hall of the People.

The 2004 agreement, however, was criticized in an article this year in the Far Eastern Economic Review written by Barry Wain of the Singapore-based Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.

Wain said the agreement was initially a bilateral agreement between the Philippines and China, and that it bothered some members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) who had earlier agreed that all negotiations with China concerning the contested Spratlys should be done collectively.

Aside from China and the Philippines, the Spratlys are also claimed by Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei. Taiwan is another claimant.

The Philippines later smoothed things out with Vietnam, which joined the joint exploration agreement.

Wain had also suggested that the Philippines’ joint exploration agreement could be interpreted as a softening of its position against China’s claim on the Spratlys.

Golez referred to the Wain article and proposed that the House look into suggestions that it was a “sellout.” There are also charges floated in opposition circles that the agreement was tantamount to “treason.”

“As we all know, China is now a dominant player in communications, education and large scale agricultural projects, doling out hundreds of millions of dollars probably even $2 billion from China’s reputed 1.3 trillion dollar war chest,” he added.

Golez indicated that national security concerns have been raised over the agreement for joint exploration. The United States has not publicly commented on the matter.