That’s not news to me. And I suppose, that isn’t to you either.

Jose De Venecia III, known to many as “Joey” (to some as JDV3) is indeed running for senator in 2010. He said so himself, and yes, I was there and I heard it.

So what’s news then?

What’s news is that he actually has priority agendas in mind — ranging from where all his exposure came from — the botched ZTE-NBN deal/scandal to his field of expertise — telecommunications, and believe it or not — to agriculture and that rather sensitive issue of “politics of patronage” in the country — an issue hounding his father former House Speaker Jose De Venecia Jr. to this day.

I must say, prior to this encounter at Annabel’s, there isn’t much that I know about him (and yes, there are still a lot more to know). I’m rather big on first impressions and all I knew then about him was limited to seeing him on tv in heated debates and uncomfortable grilling at Senate inquiries.

In the Philippines, whistle blowers always get a bad rap. To many of us, whistle blowers are no more than evil-doers who are a) just trying to wash their hands clean of past transgressions, hence the confession or; b) just trying to avenge themselves for a supposed “sweet” deal that turned “sour”.

To most of us, they are seen as “prostitutes” (pardon the analogy, you will realize that
it makes perfect sense, no intention here to demean anyone). They’ve been selling their “wares” for a long time to different men and are getting paid for it. All seems well, “business-wise” until suddenly, one woman cries “rape”. Who would believe? Silly, right? Wrong.

Coercion changes the story. Always. It is never justified. When coercion becomes part of the equation, a prostitute’s character or “nature of business” is out of the question. It becomes irrelevant. It becomes a moot point.

Following that analogy, we can say then that the moment whistle blowers like Jose de Venecia III says “no”, refuses to conspire  and decides to name names of people he was dealing with, he must be accorded proper treatment regardless of previously “perceived character” at the time such “deal” was being made. State witnesses are afforded that sort of “protection”. Otherwise, no one will ever cry foul ever again. (Besides, prior to this issue, I do not know of any other issues against him. Credibility and integrity issues just came up after the expose happened.)

That is the case faced by Jose de Venecia III. It is an issue that is open to debate and so I do not even intend to attempt closure of that issue here.

Let me tell you more about his unofficial platform in the details that follow:

1. To strengthen LGU (budget allocation) by reversing the way IRA is shared by local and national government. Currently, most of the IRA go to the national level, only a small portion goes to local government.

2. Debt-servicing: Currently, debt appropriation is set to 30%, automatically. JDV3 wants to focus more on seeking condonation of debt by qualifying/citing our income per capita (if too low, we can request for condonation of loan to free up our budget for more urgent and important things).

3. Reforestation — self-explanatory.

4. Green energy — JDV3 supports and advocates for the use of green energy.

5. Presidential warranty on the logging industry, making it coterminus with the president.
Jose de Venecia III’s thoughts on current issues:

1. On full automation of elections in 2010 — JDV3 thinks that we are in for “chaotic” elections because of these issues:
a) Transport/integrity of paper used
b) Shading intensity (parameters and its effects)
c) Number of candidates around 600 plus
d) No time and motion study until now.
e) System loss (data transmission loss)

JDV3 says he is for “full automation exclusively in NCR only”. He proposes manual elections outside of NCR.

2. On text tax — He is a proponent of the “no pass-on” provision.
3. On addressing corruption — He thinks that above all, corruption as a “moral issue” has to be seen for what it is. Also, Jose De Venecia III thinks that “politics of patronage” has to be stopped, he says that while humbly acknowledging the fact that his father JDV once partook in it.
4. On foreign ownership of lands — he supports Nograles’s proposal and cites that we’re actually the only country in the world that doesn’t allow foreign land ownership.
5. On the blogging community’s influence and what to do to harness that power — he cites plans of supporting the blogging/online community but no specific/concrete plans yet about this.

Asked what’s Jose De Venecia III’s edge over all the other candidates for senator in 2010, he says being a private citizen, he claims/promises to bring in/espouse “non-trad” politics in the senate.

Something personal about JDV3:

He is now separated (marriage lasted 5 years) and has a son. He unwinds by watching movies.