New Configurations in Congress

Congress is in for war. Two camps, De Venecia's and Nograles' are gearing for a major battle possibly in the first week of February. Both camps have been saber-rattling. Both claim to have the support of Gloria Arroyo.

Reports claim that Mrs. Arroyo has given the signal for De Venecia's ouster. However, reports are connecting this order with the revival of the ZTE probe. I don't believe that Arroyo's order is directly connected with this probe. Even prior to the ZTE controversy, the camps of Arroyo and De Venecia have already been feuding. It started with Kampi raiding the ranks of Lakas in the 2007 elections and spilling over post-election period. Quarters are really after De Venecia's head because some grew tired of his "user-friendly" style of administration while others simply hate how he uses the speakership to corner juicy deals in government.

People, especially from civil society, are not massing behind JDV. There's no public outrage against these ouster moves. In fact, most welcome the possible change in the speakership post since it would give Mindanaoans (if they succeed in ousting JDV and replace him with his buddy. Rep. Nograles) a chance to prop up their voice in Congress.

The ZTE probe has nothing to do with JDV's possible ouster. Certain quarters in media close to JDV use this issue just to play up the emotions of the people and possibly get public support behind JDV. However, they are failing to mass up since people are already tired of JDV. I mean, the guy has been given five times to make his mark for Philippine development. He has failed five times.

Ominous times ahead for political parties

Arroyo allies are raiding and wrecking rival political parties way ahead of the 2010 polls. Lito Atienza, a known Arroyo lapdog, has succeeded in splitting the Liberal Party, which I believe, has the potential to be the strongest party in 2010. Reports that Sen. Kiko Pangilinan rejected calls for him to head the party further fuel talks that the party of presidentiable Mar Roxas is weakening. These reports are very bad for the party since it will discourage big-time campaign funders from giving campaign distributions to LP. If this happens, then, LP will find it very hard to launch a decent presidential campaign in 2010. No amount of palengke tours of Roxas will mask this weakening of LP.

Talks of Legarda's possible transfer to Lakas via the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) are getting louder by the minute. This shows that talks between a possible Roxas-Legarda tandem have failed. NPC is gearing for a coalition with Lakas since the FVR party has lost considerable strength with raidings from Kampi and these ouster moves against Lakas party stalwart JDV. Lakas needs all the support it could get from other parties. It has already aligned with Atienza's LP faction. However, it is planning for NPC's numbers to prop its base support.

What these means is this--political rivals of Kampi are slowly being raided and destroyed from within. Why? Because people behind Arroyo are preparing for cha-cha. I know this sounds disjointed but hear me out. Cha-cha is not yet dead. It will be revived after the ouster of JDV this February. When that happens, nothing can stop Gloria's camp from campaigning for her as prime minister.