Rachel laments oust threat vs. Speaker JdV
The going has been rough for political neophyte Rep. Rachel Arenas of the Third District.
In an interview with The PUNCH, Arenas said interrelated developments at the House of Representatives have been hampering development programs that she wants to immediately implement in her district.
Arenas said the senate investigation and the subsequent events have resulted in the withholding of funds for their projects supposed to be released by several government agencies on account of the controversy surrounding the House leadership.
The lady House Rep was referring to talks that House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. is under threat of being unseated following his son’s revelations before the Senate of the alleged involvement of First Gentleman Mike Arroyo in the national broadband scandal.
“With these uncertainties, we can hardly move forward. There’s always a barrier,” she said.
The speaker’s son, Jose “Joey” de Venecia III, earlier implicated recently-resigned Commission on Elections Chairman Benjamin Abalos in the anomalous $329-million national broadband network (NBN) contract with Chinese firm ZTE Corp.
Arenas recently joined the fray by defending De Venecia against calls for the latter’s ouster. She said that talks of his removal will send negative signals to the international community on the stability of the country’s political scenario.
House Minority Leader Ronaldo Zamora recently confirmed that “knives are out” for De Venecia, particularly among the President’s allies in Congress.
Arenas, a staunch ally of the speaker, maintains De Venecia still has the support of the majority. #
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