Nograles, pro-admin solons say JDV merely 'sour graping'

Lawmakers including House Speaker Prospero Nograles on Monday said Pangasinan Rep. Jose de Venecia Jr's testimony against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo only shows that the former House Speaker has not yet gotten over his ouster from the lower chamber's top post.

In a statement, Nograles said he thinks de Venecia is "sour graping," even as he wondered why de Venecia is only talking about the issue now when de Venecia was the House Speaker at the time of the ZTE national broadband network mess.

"My feel is that the show was clearly for sour grapes. All of these events narrated by him happened during his watch as Speaker of the House," said Nograles.

"Shakespeare should have written: Hell hath no fury than a Speaker scorned. And the joke is the Philippine song 'Bakit Ngayon Ka Lang'," added Nograles.

For his part, Agusan del Norte Rep. Jose Aquino said de Venecia should get over his losing of the House leadership.

"Joe De Venecia is blaming Malacanang and everybody else except himself for his ouster. His long and winding 45-minute monologue during the impeachment hearing only betrayed a sinister motive behind the impeachment complaint filed by his son Joey. Get over it JDV. You lost the Speakership because of your own devices," said Aquino.

Surigao del Norte Rep. Francisco Matugas echoed this.

"We clearly see a still hurting former Speaker of the House who is using the political process of impeachment to demonize other people. He is still not over the fact that he was ousted by the great majority of his colleagues due to lack of trust and confidence," Matugas said.

Earlier, Presidential brother-in-law and Negros Occidental Rep. Ignacio "Iggy" Arroyo likewise said de Venecia was only sour-graping.

"The problem with JDV is he thinks he is the only person fit for the job and hasn't really moved on after losing the perks and powers of being the Speaker of the House," said Arroyo.

During the House committee on Justice hearing earlier during the day, de Venecia said his refusal to endorse a "bogus" impeachment complaint filed by lawyer Roberto Rafael "Raul" Pulido cost him the Speakership and the Lakas CMD presidency.

"Last year, for refusing to endorse a sham and bogus impeachment complaint against the President and for supporting my son's call for truth and justice, I was removed as a Speaker of the House of Representatives and I was removed as President of the Lakas-NUCD party," De Venecia said.

De Venecia said President Arroyo asked him three to four times but he consistently refused to transmit to the Justice committee the three-page complaint. (GMANews.TV)

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