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| Sara and Lord Allan during the senatorial campaign trail. LAV Facebook |
President Rodrigo Duterte’s daughter, credited for
orchestrating last year’s House coup that toppled its leader, has emerged as a
major power broker in the search for the next speaker.
Congressmen backing the leadership bid of incoming Leyte
Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez will “have to go back to the drawing board” if
Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio endorses another candidate, said Minority
Leader Danilo Suarez.
"Anak s'ya ng presidente, maganda ang reputation saka
maverick with a terrific right hook,” he said in jest, recalling the time when
the daughter punched a court sheriff in Davao.
(She's the President's daughter, with a good reputation,
maverick with a terrific right hook.)
Duterte-Carpio earlier denied supporting Romualdez for
speaker, saying she had raised his hand during a Tacloban campaign only because
he was supportive of her father.
Duterte-Carpio said she did the same during the campaign for
Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco, another major contender for speaker.
“Wala syang ine-endorse officially pero 'di mo maialis sa
amin na magsuspetsa na baka ito ang tulungan,” Suarez told ABS-CBN News,
describing the daughter as a “kingmaker.”
(She has not endorsed anyone officially but we can't help
but suspect that she's supporting someone.)
MACHIAVELLIAN
In July last year, Duterte-Carpio worked behind the scenes
with congressmen to oust then Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez in a dramatic twist to
her father’s scheduled State of the Nation Address.
Alvarez is again among the contenders for the next speaker,
having won a second term in Davao del Norte’s first district under the ruling
PDP-Laban party.
But last week, Duterte-Carpio rejected Alvarez’s supposed
reconciliation offer, describing him as “a very dangerous, Machiavellian
individual who does not deserve peace.”
Suarez said the statement could make it difficult for
Alvarez to regain the speakership, citing Duterte-Carpio’s strong following in
the lower house.
“Medyo mabigat 'yun, mabigat 'yun,” the outgoing minority
leader said.
(That's quite a big deal. That's big.)
Full story on ABS-CBN News
