Cayetano leaves term sharing fate to Duterte

MANILA, Philippines — It would be up to President Duterte if he would honor his promise to Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco to take over the reins of the House of Representatives by November, Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano said.

“The President will decide on who among the coalition will lead (the House). Having said that, I sincerely thank the President for respecting the authority of the legislature,” he said in an interview yesterday over dzBB.

Under the term-sharing agreement that the Chief Executive brokered in July 2019, Cayetano will be Speaker for the first 15 months while Velasco will be taking over the helm for the next 21 months, from October 2020 until June 2022.

But Cayetano clarified that, if ever, his successor will have to take over by November. “It’s not October actually, because October will just be the 15th month. So it will be in November. November, I want to finish all of our reforms and budgets.”

“We don’t really know what will happen to the future and if ever, there will still be a caucus and discussions with the President. But right now, I’d rather really focus on the budget deliberations,” he said.

The House leadership, according to the Speaker, will have its hands full for the month of September where they hope to finish the budget hearings of agencies before Congress goes on recess in mid-October.

“It’s not perfect, we have to do much more and that is what we will do during this September and October. We will focus on the national budget,” Cayetano, a congressman representing Taguig-Pateros, said.

Last March, he assured Velasco – his supposed successor – that he will not be affected by the minor revamp he implemented at the House, which he attributed to Velasco’s alleged plot to oust him.

“Well, out of respect, because he is the presumptive Speaker (we will not remove him),” the House leader said in an interview, where it was asked if Velasco will be removed as chairman of the House committee on energy.

“So I really don’t know about his chairmanship, and I don’t want to meddle. Because I wouldn’t want – when he becomes the Speaker – to undermine him, and I don’t want him to mistreat me, Cayetano stressed in Filipino.

While the lone Marinduque congressman refused to dignify the Speaker’s accusations, his allies led by Oriental Mindoro Rep. Doy Leachon – who was removed as chairman of the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal – vehemently denied the ouster moves.

Cayetano then recalled that Velasco kept on refusing the positions he offered him after the term-sharing deal was agreed upon in mid-2019, where he even wanted the latter to sit as senior House deputy speaker, for purposes of familiarizing himself with the leadership.

After flexing his muscles, Cayetano promised that no realignments will be made at the House for as long as lawmakers will toe the line of his leadership and that of President Duterte’s administration.

“I don’t want to ask any more members of Congress to leave their post. I don’t want to remove any more chairpersons, but that is with the agreement that they will be supportive of our legislative agenda,” he told reporters in a press conference.