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MANILA, Philippines – A lawmaker has claimed that Marinduque representative Lord Allan Velasco did not “work, contribute to, or lead” the House of Representatives, especially in the first 15 months of the 18th Congress, so he cannot expect lawmakers to follow him in his bid for speaker.
Capiz 2nd District Representative Fredenil Castro said Tuesday that Velasco should have used his time and effort to “productively demonstrate” that he could lead the House and be president.
However, Velasco instead “showed his true self,” Castro said.
“He did not work, he did not contribute, he did not defend this House, he did not lead. So why wait for us to follow it? he said during his privilege speech in Tuesday’s session.
“It was his mistake to think that he could do nothing in 15 months and then appear one day in Congress to claim the speaker’s position as if it were his birthright,” he added.
To recall, in July 2019, President Rodrigo Duterte said that Cayetano would serve as president in the first 15 months of the XVIII Congress, while Velasco would manage to serve for the remaining 21 months under a shared term agreement.
If this continues, Cayetano’s mandate would end in October of this year.
Castro questioned Velasco’s ability to lead the lower house of Congress.
Plot of ecstasy?
The speaker agreement issue was rekindled once again after Presidential son and House Vice Speaker Paolo Duterte threatened declare Spokesperson and Vice Chair positions vacant amid ongoing speaker line fueled by “disparity” in infrastructure budget allocations in their respective districts.
However, this is not fruition Monday when the session ended early.
The whole affair began when the representative of Negros Oriental Arnolfo Teves, Jr. questioned the distribution of funds among the congressional districts, particularly those of President Alan Peter Cayetano and Vice President Luis Raymund Villafuerte in the city of Taguig and Camarines Sur, respectively.
President Cayetano has accused Velasco of being involved not only in the recent plot to overthrow him, but also in previous coup attempts.
Cayetano said that this has been the third or fourth attempted coup against him by Velasco and his allies since Cayetano assumed the presidency.
“I think this is his third, fourth shot attempt. They believe that they will increase the number of attempts and, finally, when there are many attempts, they will succeed, “he said.
(I think this was his third, fourth Coup attempt. They thought that with more coup attempts they would eventually seize power.)
Cayetano, however, said he is willing to resign if the members of the House no longer want him as leader.
But you know, like I said, once they don’t want me (they want me out), either because of the coalition or because of the president, they don’t need me to put up a coup, just talk about it (there’s no need for a coup , we’ll just talk) ”, he said.
Who should be a spokesperson?
Finance Vice President Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr. previously revealed that a “supermajority” of lawmakers want Cayetano to remain seated as leader of the chamber in place of Velasco.
He stated that Velasco has not been vocal or active on any major issue that harassed the House.
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.
“With all due respect to Congressman Lord, since 15-21 (shared term) was announced, he was never really active in Congress,” he said.
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.
INQUIRER.net is contacting Velasco on your side. [ac]
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The ‘supermajority’ of the lonely want Cayetano to stay; Velasco inactive, mom on issues –Villafuerte
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