Suarez: House status quo remains unless Arroyo acts on it
MANILA, Philippines — Nothing will change at the House of Representatives unless Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will act on petitions of this claiming to be the minority bloc in the chamber, Rep. Danilo Suarez (Quezon) said.
Suarez has been insisting on retaining his post as minority leader despite claims of the groups of Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez (Davao del Norte) and Rep. Romero Quimbo (Marikina City) to be the "real" minority bloc.
"All they have to do, and I think they have done it, is present their position to the speaker and let the speaker act on it and come up with a firm resolve on whether their petition is correct or wrong. Unless that is acted upon, status quo prevails," told ANC's Headstart.
Acknoweldging that he was among those who voted for Arroyo, Suarez insisted that only the speaker post was declared vacant and not the majority and minority leader positions.
"For preparing a manifesto, I was first in the signature list but what was contended is just the position of the speaker only and the rest is status quo," Suarez said.
Citing Section 13 of the Rules of the House of Representatives, Suarez said that a quorum is necessary to declare any position vacant.
The provision states that, "Except for the position of Speaker, any position may be declared vacant by a majority vote if the Members present, there being a quorum. The position of Speaker may only be declared vacant through nominal voting by a majority vote of all the Members."
However, Section 8 states that, "Members who vote for the winning candidate for Speaker shall constitute the Majority in the House and they shall elect from among themselves the Majority Leader. The Majority Leader may be changed, at any time, by a majority vote of all Majority Members. The Minority Leader shall be elected by the Members of the Minosity and can be changed, at any time, by a majority vote of all the Minority Members."
By voting for Arroyo as speaker, Suarez becomes part of the majority but he insisted that "there are other conflicting rules that will also... support the position of my action to be retained as minority (leader)."
Suarez insisted that it is not necessary to change the minority leader following the change of leadership in the lower chamber.
He added that his colleagues at the House should not be "bickering" on the issue of who shall be recognized as the minority bloc as they have barely nine months left in office.
"They want to challenge that, they go to court," Suarez added.
The battle among the House factions claiming to be the minority bloc may reach the Supreme Court.
Former majority leader Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas (Ilocos Norte) and Quimbo earlier said that they would go to the Supreme Court if the Arroyo leadership recognizes Suarez as the minority leader.
The two lawmakers, however, do not agree on who is the minority leader as both claim to be the legitimate minority bloc.
House members are reported to be staying after the SONA to elect a new speaker. Earlier, a power struggle in the House leadership happened between Rep. Gloria Arroyo and Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez.
Presidential daughter Sara Duterte was rumored to be behind the push for Arroyo to lead the lower chamber.
House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano says P100 million was not allocated for congressmen, but for districts in the 2020 budget. The amount, he says, was varying based on submissions of the representatives.
He insists, however, that the amount is not pork barrel, which was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2013.
Pork barrel was the lumpsum funds legislators received supposedly for projects in their districts. Controversies, however, point to massive corruption of the funds siphoned through bogus non-government organizations.
After yesterday's election that named President Duterte's running mate Alan Peter Cayetano the new House speaker, Rep. Bienvenido "Benny" Abante (Manila) wins the election installing him as new minority leader.
The minority bloc chose Abante at a convening of members. He was elected in mere seconds and faced no objections.
Abante was one of the two candidates for House speaker formally nominated at the opening of Congress yesterday ahead of the joint session with Senate and the president's State of the Nation Address. (PTV photo)
President Rodrigo Duterte publicly naming who the next speaker of the House of Representatives will erode the lower house's independence, Rep. Carlos Zarate (Bayan Muna party-list) says after the president's announcement that Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano (Taguig) would share the term of speaker with Rep. Lord Allan Velasco (Marinduque).
"As expected, contrary to his previous statements letting members of the House to freely choose their leaders, Pres. Duterte 'stepped in' in the House speakership race to salvage his already` fractious coalition and, hopefully, secure its survival until 2022," he says in a press statement.
Zarate, a member of the Makabayan bloc at the House, says even with the term-sharing agreement brokered by the president, "the different factions and their political and economic backers are expected to still wage a war of dominance in the coming days, especially with 2022 presidential elections already in the political horizon."
He adds: "With this politics of convenience and presidential intervention, the independence of the House is again severely compromised and the interest of the majority of the people sacrificed."
Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte, the president's son, says he is no longer vying for the top spot at the House of Representatives.
"I have personally spoken to President Rodrigo Duterte Thursday night in Davao City regarding my plan to run for speaker of the House of Representatives. We both agreed that this will not be the right time for me to be Speaker and I can still help his administration from the House in a different capacity," the younger Duterte says.
"As President of Hugpong sa Tawong Lungsod, I will support the bid for speakership of Congressman Isidro Ungab from our sister party, Hugpong ng Pagbabago," he adds.
As the rivalry for the speakership heats up, presidential children Rep. Paolo Duterte (Davao City) and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte form a "Duterte Coalition" as a call for unity at the House of Representatives. Paolo leads regional party-list Hugpong sa Tawong Lungsod while Sara leads Hugpong ng Pagbabago.
Speaker hopefuls Reps. Alan Peter Cayetano (Taguig), Lord Allan Velasco (Marinduque) and Martin Romualdez (Leyte) are also being urged to be part of the coalition. Velasco, however, is the endorsed nominee of ruling party PDP-Laban.
Other members of the coalition are Reps. Isidro Ungab (Davao City), Vincent Garcia (Davao City), Corazon Malanyaon (Davao Oriental), Manuel Zamora (Compostella Valley), Lorna Bautista (Davao Occidental), Claudine Bautista (Dumper party-list), Sandro Gonzales (Marino party-list) and Anton Lopez (Marino party-list).
Velasco and Romualdez, meanwhile, also welcome the formation of the coalition in separate statements.
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