Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco may have gained the inside track in the race for the top post in the House of Representatives, if getting presidential daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte’s support is the gauge.
Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte. (FACEBOOK / MANILA BULLETIN)
During the meeting of the Nationalist People’s Coalition on Tuesday, Mayor Sara, who chairs Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP), reportedly made clear her choice for speaker to party officials.
But as the Davao City mayor declared the HNP’s bet for the top House post, former speaker and re-elected Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez is not losing hope of trying to win over President Duterte’s daughter to his side.
By now, Alvarez is apparently aware of the potent political clout Mayor Sara holds in the Lower House.
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| Sara with Cong. Lord Allan Velasco. Facebook LAV |
The lady mayor has been widely suspected of being the architect of Alvarez’s ouster as House speaker during a coup staged at last year’s opening of regular session.
Mayor Sara reportedly campaigned profusely for the election of former President and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who eventually replaced Alvarez as speaker.
Arroyo, on the other hand, is believed to be pushing for candidacy of Martin Romualdez, who will return as Leyte congressman in the 18th Congress.
But Romualdez, chairman of the Arroyo-founded Lakas-CMD party, will have to recruit backers from other political parties as his party was only able to win 10 seats for the incoming Congress.
On the other hand, Velasco and Alvarez belong to the PDP-Laban, which won at least 85 seats in the Lower House.
Re-elected Capiz Rep. Fredenil Castro is also reportedly eyeing the top House post. He is the president of the National Unity Party that will be represented by 28 congressmen in the next Congress.
Returning Taguig Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano has also been mentioned as a strong candidate for speaker. He will be counting on the support of 43 elected Nacionalista Party congressmen.
Source: Manila Bulletin/Ben Rosario
