A Long Prayer

The Speaker grabbed me as we were supposed to start our group meeting on

negotiations. He is not the current Speaker of the Republic of the

Philippines House of Representatives. He was, though. He is on a sabbatical

from politics to attend Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of government

three-week intensive Senior managers in Government. He is a merry man of

moderate stature, jet-black hair and gold rimmed glasses. On the official

list of the JFK School his name starts with an honorific. The Honorable

Arnulfo Palma Fuentebella, Former Speaker, Philippine Congress.

Back home, Noli had the same job Newt Gingrich and Sam Rayburn had. Here, he

asked that we call him “Noli” in class. He is most approachable. This day we

are working up to a meeting we have termed an “International Forum” since we

have been studying the intricacies of American political decision-making. We

have pointedly ignored the rest of the world, and at least a third of this

class are from overseas.  It struck us to be chauvinistic not to recognize

the seniority and value of experience represented in these students, so at

our request, the Executive Program people reserved a large conference room in

the Alfred Taubman Center.

As revenge for adding to the schedule, they asked me to moderate the session.

The response was favorable and fifteen students indicated they wanted to make

presentations.

Then I realized I was now going to lead a panel discussion with eighteen

nations and two Non-Governmental Organizations. I had no idea how many U.S.

Students were going to show up to listen, or what the Internationals planned

on saying. One classmate- Minister for came up and said he would tailor his

remarks to fifteen minutes. I began to panic. Do the math. We would still be

there early in the morning if they all talked that long. How to manage this

thing without hurting anyone’s feelings?

Our negotiations class required independent discussions among several groups,

so we broke out of the lecture room and walked into the Forum on the second

floor to grab a lunch table, Noli came up and grabbed me by the arm.

“I have some things I need to tell you. I won’t have time at the Forum

tonight. It is the context you need for the discussion.” He pointed at a

table at the edge of the lunch-room. “Let’s sit here.”

It was 100 degrees outside, humid and sunny as a summer day in Luzon. I have

not walked the streets of the Republic for a couple decades. But I had very

close friends there, shared things only lovers do. That is part of the

relationship between our Republics. Noli is part of it and he has quite a

story. He is the middle link in a political line that goes back seventy

years. Noli represented the Third district of Camarines Sur in Congress.

Before his impeachment, President Joseph “Erap” Ejercito Estrada inaugurated

several projects in Camarines Sur. They included the usual public works and a

sports complex named after the province’ most prominent politician, Noli’s

father. He was the late Congressman Felix A Fuentebella, known as “Tio Ellis”

to his constituents. He had been a five-term Congressman and later Governor

of the province for a decade. He stood for fairness and Independence and

getting a fair deal for his continuants. Then it was Noli’s turn. Now, Noli’s

son is  24, and has taken over the family business. He sits for the Third as

the youngest congressman in the Philippine House. Noli told me the family has

held that seat for almost seventy years.

In that time, Tio Ellis and his family drew a lot of water in Philippine

politics. When President Estrada came to Camarines Sur two years ago for the

ceremonial launching of several public works projects, the ceremony was held

at the Felix Fuentebella Memorial Sports Complex. The President said he

pushed through his visit despite events in Manila because he wanted “the pe

ople to know that his administration is committed to support the development

efforts of the province and its leaders.” He said that Tio Ellis had been “a

simple and honest man with a strong commitment to God and country.”

The President also particularly cited Noli, who he said “has shown his

sincerity and determination in making his district more progressive.”

So the story of how Noli came to be Speaker and how he brought down the

President is a good one. It harks back to the days of a more hurly-burly

Congress here in America, one where Speaker Sam Rayburn might have been

comfortable. Both of our Republics have had recent Impeachment proceedings. 

Noli had a key role in the endorsement of the panel who tried the President.

Therein lies a tale of participatory democracy.

Impeachment attempts are more common in the Philippines then they are here,

but this was the first successful one since the transitional Philippine

Commonwealth Government was established in 1935.

Former Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson made the initial charges on Oct. 5,

alleging Estrada had taken millions of pesos in bribes from illegal gambling

interests, which Tagalog are known as “jueteng.” The complaint was referred

to committee on Oct. 23. By Nov. 6, the bill hit critical mass and the

Justice committee approved the resolution with the endorsement of 77 House

members–four more than the required number.

The swing came after Speaker Manuel Villar pulled out from LAMP, Estrada’s

majority coalition in the House. He saw that the President was losing support

in the key interest blocks of the business community, Catholic Church and the

social organizations.

Estrada read the writing on the wall. This is where the current Constitution

in the R.P. is different than ours. Estrada had the power in his party to

broker the leadership of the House. He had lost the support of both houses

and needed to shore up support. He moved to replace de Villar as Speaker. He

offered the speakership around to the likely players, to Rep. Ed Gullas, then

to Rep. Alfredo Abueg. They turned down the offer. The president tried to

talk to Villar, but the Speaker stiffed him and went out of town.

On Tuesday, Nov. 13, the House resumed session after a two-week break. The

Senate bill had been reported out before recess and Villar had time to

strategize. He was determined not let the process stall. He enlisted the

support of Minority Leader Feliciano Belmonte; Deputy Speaker Abueg (also

Chairman of Rules); and Rep. Oscar Rodriguez, the recognized authority on

constitutional law.

They hatched a brilliant scheme. The Speaker could use the unique power of

his office 

to get the bill out of the House, where he still was encountering resistance.

He would adding himself the task of reading the morning prayer, following

immediately with the articles of impeachment. He would then declare it had

been transmitted to the Senate.

When Villar opened the session, he began with the traditional invocation and

then continued.  He ran long and spoke with a hushed voice, invoking God to

help them do their duty. His colleagues were soothed into indifference.

Villar knew that no one listened to them anyway. They say it was the longest

prayer ever heard in the House. When he got to the end he did not say the

magic word. He did not say “amen.” Instead, he just asked them to “please sit

down.” He then read the report of the committee on justice containing the

articles of impeachment. The reading was done so rapidly that he had read a

third of the article before the members realized he was not saying the

prayers any more.

Rep. Harlin Abayon rose to shout for a point of order. Villar ignored him and

forged ahead. After reading the impeachment complaint and directing its

transmittal to the Senate, he banged the gavel and suspended the session.

Pandemonium ruled the galleries and a spontaneous demonstration began in

support of the Speaker’s move. When Abueg took the chair to resume the

session, Rep. Sergio Apostol began nominating the members of the prosecution

panel. No one objected, and not one Estrada man was picked.

The House was too stunned to realize what had happened to it. The President

was on his way out, and the morning coffee wasn’t even cool yet. Retribution

came swiftly. Estrada’s allies regrouped and moved for the reorganization of

the House. They elected Rep. Noli Fuentebella Speaker. Despite the favors

Estrada had done for Noli’s District, he held his ground against the

President and did not change the members of the prosecution pane. He

supported it during the impeachment trial in Senate. The trial went ahead

until it was aborted by the 11-10 vote to prevent the opening of an envelope

containing evidence on Estrada’s alleged unexplained bank assets.

It was classic Congressional theater, democracy the way it was meant to be,

vibrant and alive. A thing to which you must pay careful attention or you

will lose. Big time..

When it was all over Noli temporarily retired to let his son try the job. He

stayed busy. According to the Xinhua news Agency, Noli led a delegation of

the Philippine house to the PRC on 10 September 2001 to meet with Jiang

Zhenghua of China’s Standing Committee on NPC. He came to Harvard for this

iteration of the Senior Managers in Government. It is not a trivial

investment, and when you include the travel halfway around the world, it is a

major investment in resources.

We graduated a week ago today. Noli is on the road again, somewhere. He gets

around and I wish him well. Philippine politics being what they are, he could

be President one day, or Prime Minister if things break the right way. I’m

proud to know him.

Copyright 2002 Vic Socotra