NEWLY-INSTALLED House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco bangs the gavel in his first session with the majority of the lawmakers at Celebrity Sports Plaza in Quezon City.
Majority to reclaim Batasan
by Aldrin Cardona (Daily Tribune)
Majority of the members of the House of Representatives on Tuesday elected Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco as Speaker and will take back the Batasang Pambansa today to prevent a rump session to be presided by the ousted Alan Peter Cayetano.
They will troop to the Batasang Pambansa as a collective after a 7 a.m. meeting at the Celebrity Sports Plaza, also in Quezon City, where they held a pre-special session election of the Speaker, the House Secretary General and the Sergeant-at-Arms.
The majority of 187 lawmakers, 186 of which voted for Velasco as Speaker to succeed Cayetano, will then attempt to hold the first day of the special sessions called by President Rodrigo Duterte.
All of them assured their physical presence at the Batasan as a showdown is expected between the new House leader and the ousted Cayetano who reiterated that he will not step down despite the overwhelming call for a leadership change.
Cayetano, meanwhile, plans to hold a session at 3 p.m. It is not clear whether he can still muster a decent number after he had lost his count following the declaration of support by Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte — the President’s daughter — to Velasco.
The Batasang Pambansa was ordered closed by Cayetano to lawmakers who are not his allies. He only allowed 25 allies at a time to attend sessions.
Majority of the lawmakers who support Velasco assembled in
the venue a day after subjecting themselves to COVID-19 tests in two areas
designated for the purpose.
Cayetano rejected it as a “fake session,” a claim refuted by many lawmakers who willed the majority as a voice stronger than the ousted former leader.
Duterte asked the House to hasten the passage of the 2021 national budget on third and final reading. It will be submitted to the Senate after that.
Cayetano, however, deliberately placed the budget hanging when on 6 October, Cayetano unilaterally suspended the sessions until 16 November.
Troubled by the possibility of having a reenacted budget caused by Cayetano’s delay of the budget proceedings, the President ordered the House to conduct special sessions starting today.
On Monday, Cayetano used the budget as reason for his stay as Speaker. He was supposed to transfer House power to Velasco on Wednesday, 14 October. He turned his back on that agreement, too.
Their earlier pact was for Cayetano to serve as Speaker for only 15 months. Velasco was to have his turn for 21 months until the next elections in 2022.
In electing Velasco as new Speaker, majority of the congressmen said they did so to “bring honor back in the House.”
“The majority has spoken. The plenary of the House of the people — not the house of Cayetano — will be physically present (on Tuesday),” 1-Pacman Partylist Rep. Mikee Romero said.
“We assure the President that this House of the people will pass the national budget on third and final reading,” newly-installed Speaker Velasco said after expressing his gratitude to the President and his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte and Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go.
“Thank you for your trust and moral support,” he said.
The young Duterte declared her support to Velasco, emphasizing that her political party Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HnP) backed the term-sharing agreement Velasco and Cayetano made with President Duterte.
In a statement the younger Duterte sent to Daily Tribune, the President’s daughter confirmed her meeting with Velasco in Davao City on Friday.
As the chairperson of HnP — Davao region’s political party — Duterte said Velasco “sought help” in securing the votes of three congressmen from the Davao region.
“He intimated that there will be a Speakership vote and he sought for my help, as the Chairperson of HnP, with regard to the votes of the three HnP congressmen from Davao Region,” she said.
The Davao City mayor reiterated that HnP will back the administration of President Duterte and will rally behind his recent order to convene sessions to pass the bill on the 2021 national budget.
“I also emphasized that HnP will respect the term-sharing agreement as ordered by the President last year and reiterated that the party fully supports Presidential Proclamation 1027,” Duterte said.
Reports also claimed that she had called House members to eject Cayetano. It was reminiscent of her role in the July 2018 House coup that installed former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as speaker vice Pantaleon Alvarez.
Aside from HnP, Velasco was elected by the majority membership of the PDP, Nationalist People’s Coalition, Northern Luzon Alliance, National Unity Party, Nacionalista Party, the Partylists Coalition, the minority, and the Metro Manila, Visayas, Mindanao, Bicolandia and BARMM blocs.
Cayetano countered that he has 205 of the 299 lawmakers who signed their manifesto of support before their 29 September meeting with the President in Malacañang. Mr. Duterte rejected Cayetano’s attempt to submit the papers to him as he wanted the term-sharing agreement honored by the speakership rivals.
It was said that the President questioned the manner of collection of the signatures for Cayetano.
Some say Cayetano only had 199 signatories then. Others claim he had even less.
But they no longer matter now as the 186 votes for Velasco
are the latest count which he will tow with him to the House, a senior lawmaker
said.
This article first appeared on Daily Tribune
