It could also be the principal reason for the President’s decision to suspend the controversial $329-million national broadband network (NBN) contract awarded to Chinese firm ZTE Corp. and the equally controversial and more expensive  $466-million cyber education project (CEP) of the Department of Education, they said.

The suspension was meant to defuse the “gathering storm” that inevitably would affect the presidency, they said.

Over the weekend, the ‘coup plotters’ have already changed their tune. In television interviews, they said they did not really plan to unseat De Venecia in the wake of his son’s damaging testimony against First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo.

Joey de Venecia III has accused the President’s husband of bullying him to back off from the NBN project, an accusation the First Gentleman denied.

The plan to unseat De Venecia was hatched during Mrs. Arroyo’s dinner-meeting with more than 100 House allies recently in Malacanang. “Give us the marching orders Madam President, and De Venecia would be out next week," a group led by Representatives Antonio Diaz and Jose Solis of Sorsogon told Mrs. Arroyo during the meeting.

However, the President kept her peace, and the Diaz-Solis group took her silence to mean she approved of their coup plan.

Zamora warned Mrs. Arroyo’s allies that if they succeed in ousting the Speaker and De Venecia’s group initiates an impeachment process against the President, the minority would support such a process.

He said if the Speaker has 50 to 60 loyalists, he could convince six to seven more, plus the 24 members of the minority, to attain the required minimum of 80 impeachment petitioners (one-third of House membership) to send a complaint directly to the Senate for trial.

This is also the warning aired earlier by former minority leader and Nueva Vizcaya Rep. Carlos Padilla, who said if the House impeaches Mrs. Arroyo, the opposition-dominated Senate would most likely convict her.

Other House leaders warned of more dire consequences if De Venecia is unseated and punished at this time for his son’s testimony.

Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, appropriations committee chairman, said Mrs. Arroyo’s proposed P1.227-trillion national budget for 2008 could become ‘collateral damage.’

‘The budget will be a casualty if they divide the House now,’ he said.

Lagman?s committee has been holding daily public hearings on the measure and is expected to endorse it for plenary debates next week.

His target is to finish the budget before the first congressional break on Oct. 13 so that Congress can approve it before yearend and there would be no need to reenact the 2007 budget next year.

Palawan Rep. Abraham Mitra, agriculture committee chairman, said other pending important bills could also become collateral damage.

‘It’s time to go back to where we were before the NBN-ZTE scandal broke out. We should focus on legislation," he said. He told coup plotters to ‘back off!’

For his part, Cebu Rep. Eduardo Gullas said a ‘precipitous" House reorganization is bound to derail not only the 2008 national budget but the low-priced medicine bill as well.

“We want to make this very clear: to many of us pro-administration lawmakers, Joe de Venecia is our Speaker, as long as he remains devoted to the President,’ he said.

Gullas is an appropriations committee vice chairman and one of the authors of the cheap medicines bill, which is being rushed by the trade and industry committee chaired by Palawan Rep. Antonio Alvarez.

Alvarez has also been holding daily hearings on the measure, which he is scheduled to endorse in two weeks.

Gullas said the call of the hour for all congressional leaders, whether in the administration or the opposition is for unity and sobriety.

We are supposed to be leaders, so we are duty-bound to find practical solutions to our nation’s problems, not aggravate them, he said.

A majority of the 29 congressmen comprising the Northern Alliance also reiterated their support to De Venecia.

Isabela Rep. Giorgidi Aggabao said members of the Northern Alliance, an informal grouping of lawmakers from Northern Luzon, have decided to come to the rescue of their colleague from Pangasinan.