DAGUPAN CITY – Pangasinenses who voted for the first time 16 years ago may have known only one Speaker of the House of Representatives: Jose de Venecia Jr.

In their eyes, De Venecia was also the most powerful and influential local politician in the province’s most recent history, especially during the term of another kabaleyan (province mate), former President Fidel Ramos of Asingan town.

Then, with a stroke of a pen and a few calls here and there, De Venecia would make things happen – have a project funded, get somebody appointed to a government position, and even make political opponents unite.

But the people woke up one morning in January and suddenly found that De Venecia was no longer Speaker. The “Pangasinan idol,” despite his wealth and power, was not invincible, after all.

The saddest part of it was that, for the first time, representatives from the province did not support De Venecia as a bloc, as they had always done when he vied for the speakership in the past.

Party decision

Of the five representatives outside of De Venecia’s fourth district, only Rep. Victor Agbayani (second district) stuck it out with him. Arthur Celeste (first district), Rachel Arenas (third district) and Conrado Estrella III (sixth district) voted to declare the post of Speaker vacant while Marcos Cojuangco (fifth district) abstained.

“It was a party decision and we had no choice but to toe the party line,” Celeste and Estrella said in separate interviews. Celeste belongs to the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi) while Estrella is a member of the Nationalist People’s Coalition.

“But I know that [De Venecia] understood my decision, being a party man himself,” Celeste said. He said he had already voted for De Venecia as Speaker in the past and this time, he said, he wanted to show his loyalty to his political party.

Celeste, who now chairs the House committee on national defense, first ran as an independent and joined Lakas-CMD after his election as representative. “But I was treated as a second-class member in Lakas,” he said. “And worse, when I ran for my second term, a Lakas candidate was put up against me.”

It was then, he said, that he transferred to Kampi, where he had “been treated very well.”

Estrella said he could have voted for De Venecia had there been an election for the speakership. Davao City Rep. Prospero Nograles ran unopposed for the post.

Sad news

To some, De Venecia’s ouster was sad news; to others, it did not matter at all.

As a friend and ally, Dagupan City Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr. said he was sad that De Venecia was replaced. “Pangasinan representatives have their own affiliations. In the local governments, his ouster had no impact because the support is both [for De Venecia and President Macapagal-Arroyo],” Fernandez said.

The local weekly Sunday Punch had reported that the local chapter of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines passed a resolution expressing support for Ms Arroyo, whose maternal home province is Pangasinan. Her mother, the late Eva Macaraeg, was from Binalonan town.

“She is our President,” said San Fabian Mayor Mojamito Libunao, who sponsored the league’s resolution that was signed by 28 mayors. He, however, told the Sunday Punch that “this doesn’t mean that we are not supporting our congressman, the former Speaker.”

De Venecia himself had told the Inquirer during his first visit to Dagupan after his ouster that Pangasinan would remain a politically potent province. But he said: “Itong mga pro-Gloria forces, magsama-sama na lahat sila. So, we will run on the issue of they are for Gloria, we are against Gloria.”

New leader

Former Villasis Mayor Ramon Morden said that after De Venecia, Gov. Amado Espino Jr. had emerged as the new political leader of the province. “What the national leadership is looking for now is who can steer the province in support of the President. It is only Governor Espino who can do that,” Morden said.

Espino, a Kampi member, served as representative for two terms in the second district. He won the gubernatorial race in a three-cornered fight that pitted him against a De Venecia-backed candidate and a former vice governor.

Morden said that even though De Venecia had a falling out with the President, Pangasinan had remained solid behind Ms Arroyo. “What we are talking about here is no longer politics but how Pangasinan can become more progressive. We also talk about the economic aspect, who can deliver it,” he said.