‘Pantaleon Alvarez, allies seeking to be minority bloc’

MANILA, Philippines — The camp of ousted speaker Pantaleon Alvarez has reportedly sent feelers to the new leadership of the House of Representatives under Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo that they should now comprise the new opposition bloc in the chamber. 

Three independent sources told The STAR the Davao del Norte congressman and former House majority leader Rodolfo Fariñas of Ilocos Norte, along with their handful of allies, want to be the House’s official minority bloc, replacing that led by incumbent Minority Leader Danilo Suarez. 

Fariñas, however, was silent yesterday, save for a Viber post he gave to reporters. 

“Hope springs eternal! I lost my father, brother, wife, son and nephew. Hope has been the thing that has kept me going and continue to thank God for all those blessings and the gift of life and love to me and my children!” the senior lawmaker said. 

But this news apparently didn’t sit well with the independent opposition lawmakers like Caloocan City Rep. Edgar Erice, a stalwart of the once powerful Liberal Party of former president Benigno Aquino III. 

“It has come to my attention that the PDP-Laban faction of Rep. Alvarez will be seeking the minority leadership. It will be a highly anomalous situation simply because GMA (Arroyo) is also PDP-Laban,” Erice told House reporters via a Viber group message. 

“Where in the world can you find a parliament where the majority leader and the minority leader belong to the same political party? It’s a mockery of the legislative process that is supposed to guarantee check and balance,” Erice argued. 

“GMA should not allow this. As a veteran parliamentarian and former president, she has the responsibility to protect the real minority. Otherwise, this Congress will be the same as the rotten Alvarez House which we ousted,” he stressed. 

Erice belongs to a select group who claim and call themselves the “Magnificent 7.”

Suarez, a congressman from Quezon province and a long-trusted ally of Arroyo, told reporters he will now be jumping over to the majority coalition, since it would be awkward for him to stay in the minority, knowing how close he is to her. 

He said Rep. Lito Atienza of party-list Buhay, who is among his deputies, will be taking over his post. An insider claimed the more than 20 or so opposition lawmakers in the minority bloc will “remain intact” under the former Manila mayor’s leadership. 

Atienza once served as environment secretary of Arroyo during her administration. 

Among Alvarez’s and Fariñas’ expected or newfound strange bedfellows may be Erice and other Liberal Party members Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, Raul Daza (northern Samar), Teddy Baguilat (Ifugao), Kaka Bag-ao (Dinagat Islands), Bolet Banal (Quezon City) and Francis Gerald Abaya (Cavite). 

House Deputy Speaker Romero Quimbo of Marikina – formerly the highest elected LP official in the chamber – and Reps. Rey Umali of Oriental Mindoro (former House justice committee chairman), Gabriel Bordado (Camarines Sur), Tom Villarin (Akbayan) Gary Alejano (Magdalo) and Jocelyn Limkaichong (Negros Oriental) are also in the minority. 

These were the congressmen who refused to join and “abstained” during Monday’s voting. 

There has been no word yet, however, on where Lagman will join. 

Lagman protected Arroyo against the four impeachment complaints filed against her year after year through his classic prejudicial questions, and in fact served as the chairman of the House committee on appropriations during her administration.