The House speakership issue

There is a problem in the House speakership at this time. House Speaker Alan Cayetano has brought the sharing scheme before President

Rodrigo Duterte, who we all know doesn’t want the executive branch to join the fray. As we already wrote, Pres. Duterte doesn’t want to interfere with this problem. However, like it or not, as head of the PDP–Laban, his political party, the President can choose a candidate for House speaker.

Because of the trouble between Lord Alan Velasco and Alan Cayetano, a third man has entered the speakership fray. This is no other than former House speaker Rep. Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez, whom I saw on YouTube being interviewed by Karen Davila. From that interview, I found it crystal clear that Bebot Alvarez has not yet settled his differences with Mayor Sarah Duterte whom many believe engineered his ouster as speaker.

Secondly, Alvarez has not also sat down with Pres. Duterte in order to tell him that he was joining this game. He has a good chance if the President vouches for him. However, this is a PDP-Laban party game to be played. At this point, the House of Representatives should solve this impasse as soon as possible because the legislative agenda of the President is at stake here. It’s now the “right time” for him to take over as House speaker Rep. Lord Allan Velasco said yesterday, quoting President Duterte during a meeting with him at Malacañang Monday night. “The President was categorical when he said: ‘Lord, it is your right time now. I have already spoken. You have to insist on your right based on the term-sharing agreement,’” Velasco said in a statement. The meeting between the President and Velasco was reportedly a private one with only Sen. Bong Go allowed to join them. It took place right after the weekly meeting of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) at the Malago Clubhouse.

However, Lord Alan Velasco’s dream of becoming speaker by Oct. 14 still appears elusive. Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano sprang a surprise the other day by moving for the chamber’s approval on second reading of the 2021 national budget and declaring the resumption of session on Nov. 16. The chamber had originally scheduled for Oct. 8 the budget measure’s second reading approval and for Oct. 14 the third reading.

Velasco intimated that Cayetano’s surprise move was “a desperate attempt to stay in power.” “He (Cayetano) knows very well that he no longer enjoys the trust and confidence of House members. This caper is the last nail to his coffin. Speaker Cayetano, your time is up,” Velasco, chairman of the House energy committee, said. “He has bastardized the institution we swore to protect and respect and committed serious violations of the Constitution to save himself,” he added.

In the meantime, Rep. Edcel Lagman, an independent opposition congressman, said the “abrupt termination of the plenary deliberations” on the GAB and its “premature approval on second reading” is unprecedented in the history of the House. “The plenary scrutiny on the national budget has sacrificed to the altar of the ongoing House leadership squabble,” the Albay lawmaker said.

 “We expect Speaker Alan Cayetano to resign on Oct. 14 and to abide by the term-sharing agreement because his time is already up,” Velasco said. He also debunked Cayetano’s claim that he has the numbers to keep himself as House leader come Oct.14. Lord Velasco, who belongs to Duterte’s PDP-Laban party, clarified that the “super majority does not belong to Speaker Cayetano” but to those in the ruling party and those under the administration coalition. He added that “anyone who would renege on the term-sharing agreement from any member of the coalition is actually defying the wishes of the President.”

* * *

For email responses to this article, write to [email protected]  His columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com