Prior to the following report, Buhay Partylist Representative Lito Atienza posted on his Facebook, thus:
“This proves beyond doubt that Speaker Cayetano is
desperately hanging on. He has just publicly confirmed that he is losing ground
that’s why he did it.
“He didn’t care about Constitutional integrity, throwing
everything into the air and making Congress go on a long vacation. Ginulo niya
lahat and he violated all the rules of the House. Many of us were objecting at
the top of our voices but again, we were muted on Zoom and all our objections
were thrown out the window.
“This is typical of a poor loser – Pag natatalo ka na,
guluhin mo na lang ang mesa, sunugin mo na lang ang bahay ika nga.”
House OKs P4.5-trillion 2021 budget bill on 2nd reading amid
leadership wrangling
From ABS-CBN News:
MANILA (UPDATE) — The House of Representatives on Tuesday
approved on second reading the P4.5-trillion 2021 national budget upon House
Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano's motion, terminating deliberations on the spending
plan amid his leadership tussle with Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco.
"Applying section 55 of our rules, I move to terminate
the period of debate on House Bill 7727, or General Appropriations Bill (GAB),"
Cayetano said as he rounded up a privilege speech that again touched on his
wrangling with Velasco for the speakership.
Along with this, Cayetano created a panel to entertain
committee and individual amendments. Lawmakers may submit their proposed amendments
until November 5.
In an "ayes and nayes" vote, majority of the
lawmakers present in the plenary and via Zoom affirmed Cayetano's move.
Another solon then moved to suspend the House session until
November 16, which was also affirmed.
This developed as Velasco sought to enforce a term-sharing
agreement with Cayetano brokered by President Rodrigo Duterte, which was to
take effect on October 14.
He also accused Cayetano of holding the 2021 budget hostage
so he could stay at the House helm.
In his speech, Cayetano again said he sought to stay put
until December for the sake of the budget, but that Velasco would not give way.
Under the "gentleman's agreement" that Duterte
brokered last year, Cayetano will lead the House for the first 15 months of the
18th Congress or until October, while Velasco would assume leadership for the
next 21 months.
Last Wednesday, Cayetano offered to resign, but a majority
of lawmakers rejected his move.
Meanwhile, Malacañang said it welcomed the chamber's
"timely approval" of GAB but maintained it had no intention to
interfere in an "internal matter."
"That is a purely internal matter of the HOR even as we
thank the House for their timely passage of the 2021 budget," Presidential
Spokesperson Harry Roque said
This article first appeared on ABS-CBN News , reports from
RG Cruz, Jamaine Punzalan, and Jauhn Etienne Villaruel
