MANILA, Philippines — As his self-imposed deadline to make an endorsement for House speaker lapsed yesterday, President Duterte said he had told aspirants Pantaleon Alvarez of Davao, Alan Peter Cayetano of Taguig, Martin Romualdez of Leyte and Lord Allan Velasco of Marinduque to just toss a coin to determine who will get the post.
“Sabi ko (I said), ‘just to break the impasse, let us have this formula. How about a toss coin? Do you agree?’ Ayaw nila (They didn’t agree),” Duterte disclosed in a briefing late Thursday.
Duterte also said he had recommended term-sharing for Cayetano who, like Velasco, met with him during his official visits in Japan and Thailand.
“Pero hindi ako nag-commit (I did not commit) because we politicians do not commit our support. Hindi mo kasi alam ang (We can’t predict) what is tomorrow. You know, the ever-changing rules of life,” Duterte said.
He stressed that he was more focused at the time on not offending Chinese President Xi Jinping over issues in the West Philippine Sea.
“Malay mo, baka yayain tayo sa birthday niya o sa piyesta nila. Ano kaya ang parokya ng Beijing (For all you know, he might invite me to his birthday or their fiesta. I wonder what the parish of Beijing is),” the President said.
Duterte said he also did not give his support to Romualdez, who had seen him this week.
“There’s always the fallout,” Duterte said.
Sara’s choice
Meanwhile, lawmakers are waiting for signs from Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio on her choice for speaker now that President Duterte has promised not to interfere in the bruising speakership race.
“We are still hoping the President would make an announcement. If there is none, and if Mayor Sara indicates her preference, we, all of us who are administration allies, will go for that,” Pampanga Rep. Aurelio Gonzales Jr. told One News’ “The Chiefs” on Cignal TV Thursday night.
But he said he could not speculate on who would be the choice of Carpio who, by the President’s account, maneuvered the ouster in July 2018 of then speaker Alvarez and election of former president and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to the House’s top position.
The mayor and her brother, incoming Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte, are reportedly close friends with one aspirant for speaker.
“They are all the same. They will follow the wishes of the President when it comes to his legislative agenda. They will cooperate with the executive branch,” Gonzales said.
Gonzales is executive vice president of the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan. He signed the manifesto of support for Velasco.
The other signatories of the manifesto are Rizal Rep. Jack Duavit of Nationalist People’s Coalition, 1-Pacman party-list Rep. Mikee Romero, who heads the Party-list Coalition and Rep. Kristine Meehan of Northern Luzon Alliance.
In his latest television interview, the President reiterated that he would leave it to House members to elect their speaker on July 22, when the 18th Congress convenes.
Duterte’s statement prompted another aspirant for speaker, Romualdez, to appeal to his rivals to stop soliciting the President’s endorsement.
He said they should respect Duterte’s decision to let them choose their leader.
“All of us seeking the speakership consider it a great privilege to be named the President’s choice. His endorsement would have sealed the victory of any candidate. Members of Congress give premium to his endorsement for they all want a speaker who will serve as a working partner of the President in our common quest to improve our people’s lives,” Romualdez said.
He also appealed to the other aspirants to take the lead from the President and allow House members to vote according to their conscience.
“Let not party affiliation be the basis of voting for speaker. Better that we have a multi-party coalition geared toward swift approval of the President’s legislative agenda. A unified Congress, after all, is what the President needs to help him realize his vision of stability and growth for our country,” Romualdez said.
As of yesterday, Cayetano was still insisting on sharing the speaker’s three-year term with Velasco, claiming that the President approved the arrangement.
But Velasco and his supporters rejected term sharing, saying it would just disrupt the legislative process.
“This term-sharing proposal of some of our colleagues will not benefit Congress as an institution and our people, but merely those who will share the term as speaker. It is definitely bad for the nation. House leadership should never be shared. We abhor the idea,” Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza said.
Meanwhile, the 45 members of the Visayan bloc in the House have narrowed down their choices for speaker between Velasco and Romualdez.
Lingkod party-list Rep. Stephen Paduano yesterday said they have until July 15 to decide whom to support between the two aspirants. – Jess Diaz, Gilbert Bayoran