"Back Off!" was what the First Gentleman said to Joey de Venecia during an alleged reconciliatory meeting that took place in Wack Wack sometime March 2007. This is based on the testimony made by Joey de Venecia before the three Standing Committees of the Senate: Blue Ribbon, Trade and Industry, and Defense today. Who is Joey de Venecia?
The first Speaker of the House of Representatives from Pangasinan was the late Eugenio Perez and it was only after 54 years that another Speaker from Pangasinan emerged, in the person of House Speaker Jose de Venecia, now in his fourth term as Speaker of the House of Representatives. Speaker Jose de Venecia was first married to the daughter of then Speaker Perez. Joey de Venecia III is his son from the first marriage.
PTC'06 Conference and Exhibition gives this backgrounder of the erstwhile son and namesake of Speaker Joe de Venecia:
"JOSE P. DE VENECIA III is the Chairman of Broadband Philippines. He is an entrepreneur and his vision for the convergence of multi-media technologies created the first broadband service provider focused solely on Philippine business. He is responsible for directing the Company's broadband data, internet, and wireless services. He is responsible for organizing Broadband Philippines' core management team and has strategic responsibility for building the Company.
In 1995, Mr. De Venecia founded Multimedia Telephony, Inc. (MTI), a telecommunications operator and operating company of Broadband Philippines. With the technical backing of its then foreign partner, the Loxley Public Company, Ltd. of Thailand, the company operated a high-quality mobile information network that led the market in the advancement of information applications. The company established and implemented the first nationwide financial information paging network and generated more than 40,000 corporate users in a 12-month period. MTI also established the country's first call center which offered call center management operations and web related services for both U.S. and Philippine markets. After being granted its new nationwide broadband licenses, MTI sold its paging division to Easycall in 1999 and in early 2000, sold its call center business to American investors in order to concentrate on its new broadband projects.
Prior to founding MTI, Mr. De Venecia was an auditor with Arthur Andersen & Co. in Washington D.C.. While he was in the U.S., he was mainly involved in financial audits of companies involved in federal government infrastructure contracts, telecommunications, cable TV, and technology. In the Philippines, he joined SGV & Co., where he conducted financial audits of companies in electronics, investment banking and consumer goods. He was instrumental in the initial public offering of the Philippines' largest power utility.
Mr. De Venecia is currently Chairman of Asia Renewables, a company focused on energy development using alternative energy sources such as wind power and other indigenous sources.
Mr. De Venecia is on the Board of an aquaculture joint venture between Chinese, Taiwanese, and Filipinos to propagate high value fish in strategic locations throughout the Philippines.
Mr. De Venecia is on the Advisory Boards of technology companies Strategiweb LLC, a global outsourcing organization based in Boston; and Emrtec LLC, a Beijing-based business development company, which brings technology to and from emerging markets.
Mr. De Venecia is on the Board of Trustees of the Virlanie Foundation (VFI), a private, child caring institution, which works with street children and young prostitutes in Manila. Each Year VFI looks after 600 street children, 300 of whom are directly housed in its family homes.
Mr. De Venecia is a member of various professional and civic organizations in the Philippines and was named in the publication "Who's Who in the World" in 2000.
Mr. De Venecia was awarded a research scholarship and holds an MBA from the Fordham University in New York, and an Accounting degree from the American University in Washington, DC."
