The Unlawyer

… and mischief is already afoot at that House on a Hill – Batasan Hills, that is – so early in the morning: Chaos mars opening at House, Solons squabble as House session opens, and Garcia supporters fail to derail opening of session, fallout from the speakership fight between octogenarian Cebu representative Pablo Garcia and the incumbent, Pangasinan representative Jose de Venecia, no spring chicken he.

As of this time, the House has yet to vote on who its Speaker will be. [UPDATE: Rep. de Venecia wins the speakership vote, and in the nick of time at that - Ed.]

Across town, Senator Manuel Villar retained his post as Senate President, on the strength of administration and opposition votes, but not without incident: Battle at Senate degenerates into name-calling.

“The battle for the Senate presidency has degenerated into name-calling, with opposition Sen. Jamby Madrigal branding Senators Manuel Villar, Jinggoy Estrada, Francis Escudero and Alan Peter Cayetano as “fly-by-night” opposition members and “bangaw” or bottle flies.

“Madrigal joined the fray as she accused Villar of “using the opposition” to win in the last elections.”

Antics such as these only serve to diminish whatever reserves respect both the House and the Senate may have in the eyes of a increasingly critical public.

Unlike the House, the Senate was able to complete its lineup of officers this morning: Jinggoy voted Senate president pro tempore; Kiko is majority leader. As expected, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV did not make it to today’s opening session as he continues to be in the custody of his military jailers.

Meanwhile, leftist groups who were out in force at dawn to march to the Batasan complex in order to occupy prime protesting space in advance of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) at 4:00 PM, her seventh since she took office, were blocked by anti-riot police. Other protests are expected across the nation. Expect heavy traffic along Commonwealth Avenue.

So what’s in store in the President’s SONA?

“For the next three years, President Arroyo intends to lead us on a path of economic growth, political stability and social justice,” her spokesman Ignacio Bunye said Sunday.

“”One can be certain that among her most important goals during that period would be to ensure more and more of our people will not just see, but more importantly experience, the tangible benefits of our growing economy,” he said.”

Not everybody, however, will swallow her promises hook, line, and sinker:

“Benito Lim, a political analyst and professor at Ateneo de Manila University, said he expected a lot of skepticism because people “have heard all of her claims before and they have not been fulfilled.”"

Teka Muna is another skeptic of the President’s economic claims.

Most people will have their ears and eyes glued to the President’s speech, and this early most everything is grinding to a slow halt in anticipation of her performance, including the vaunted Philippine stock market: Stocks close flat ahead of Arroyo’s inaugural address. Tomorrow’s market direction will indicate what punters think of her remarks.

What are businessmen expecting the President to remark upon today?

“P[olicy] statements on infrastructure, corruption, further economic liberalization but not through Charter change, and the better management of the exchange rate are what Filipino and foreign businessmen are waiting to hear from President Arroyo… “

The Magnificent Atty. Perez has his own legislative wish list to present to the members of the 14th Congress. Elsewhere, The Composed Gentleman says the President may emphasize some points she raised at last year’s SONA:

“What about the super regions that have to be developed in North Luzon, Metro Luzon, Central Philippines and Mindanao? Arroyo will again emphasize how these super regions will advance economic and market potentials beyond what each region can bring about.

“Then of course she would promise (again) to alleviate poverty through her 10-point agenda, that includes job creation, better education, improved healthcare, greater access to electricity and water, and reliable transportation and infrastructure.”

Ako Mismo says: “First World country in 20 years” to be today’s SONA.

Manolo is liveblogging today’s proceedings. I might take note of the President’s words on the economy later; after all, this is a business blog. He also reminds those Senators who may be planning to boycott today’s SONA to just show up.