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Rep. LRay Villafuerte. FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – The “supermajority” of congressmen want House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano to continue rather than allow Marinduque representative Lord Allan Velasco, who reportedly was not actively involved in any major issue, take over the vice president and Camarines Sur representative, LRay Villafuerte said Tuesday.
“If you ask congressmen now, the supermajority of congressmen now would like President Alan Cayetano to continue,” Villafuerte said in an interview on the ABS-CBN news channel.
“You saw the performance of Congress even though there was a hiatus in work, the rating went up. The highest rating for the House of Representatives, everyone happy. If someone complains, one or two people that the Spokesperson will resolve, ”he continued.
(You saw the performance of Congress, we work even though we are on a break, the ratings increased, the highest rating for the House of Representatives. Everyone happy. If there is ever someone complaining, only one or two people that the Speaker will will resolve.)
Under the shared term agreement negotiated by President Rodrigo Duterte, Cayetano will serve as Speaker of the Chamber for 15 months before Velasco replaces him and leads Congress for the remaining 21 months.
If the president lets congressmen resolve the dispute for the presidency of the House, Villafuerte said he believes Velasco will have no chance in terms of numbers.
“Definitely not,” Villafuerte said when asked if Velasco will be able to put up a good fight against Cayetano.
“With all due respect to Congressman Lord, since there was an announcement on 15-21 (shared term), he was never really active in Congress,” he added.
Velasco must have associated with Cayetano when he was declared a replacement for the latter, Villafuerte said.
“I have not seen or heard Congressman Lord actively participate on any major issue. We don’t see it in Congress. It really was his choice not to be the alleged speaker. The congressmen now say that we prefer to let President Alan continue because he is active, he performs, he is qualified, these are the general sentiments of the congressmen, “he said.
Asked about Duterte’s comment “kawawa naman si Lord” (poor Lord), Villafuerte said it must be because he would prefer Cayetano to continue as president of the Chamber.
“I don’t want to speculate what that means to me personally, when he says Alan should continue, kawawa naman si Lord na hindi siya makaka-take over (poor Lord cannot take over). That is my personal opinion. I cannot clearly and categorically interpret what those words are, ”he said.
JPV
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