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In a surprise move that critics described as intended to confuse the chamber despite the Tuesday night “deal” they forged in the presence of President Duterte, House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano on Wednesday offered his immediate resignation. on Wednesday, defying Marinduke representative Lord Allan. Velasco to take the reins and lead the approval of the budget.
A plenary vote led by his allies, however, immediately rejected legislator Taguig’s offer.
Based on the outcome of the Tuesday night meeting, the Velasco camp said it was ready to take office as of Oct. 14 to carry out the previous gentlemen’s agreement to share the term, forged in 2019. That agreement, negotiated by Duterte, would have Cayetano at the helm. the house for 15 months and Velasco, the last 21 months.
Duterte invited them to a meeting Tuesday amid indications that Cayetano was reluctant to comply with that agreement.
Late on Tuesday, word spread that after Duterte’s warning for the parties to follow their shared term, Velasco would take command on October 14.
But Cayetano, in an unprecedented move, offered to resign as president as of September 30, unbalancing the other side.
“I will not be a party to defraud the president, so I offer my resignation here and now to you, my dear colleagues. My destiny and the destiny of the 2021 budget and the destiny of the leadership of the Chamber is in your hands, ”Cayetano said in a speech.
Please don’t vote for party lines. Don’t accept or deny because of charges or because of what the president says or because of what I may think. Vote for me or not, you are my friends, my colleagues, “he added.
His ally, Anakalusugan Party roster representative Mike Defensor, immediately moved to reject Cayetano’s offer to resign. The motion was seconded by the representative of Bulacan, Jonathan Sy-Alvarado.
The motion has already been adopted by live vote but a roll call vote was taken to determine the number of votes. With 184 affirmative votes, one negative and 9 abstentions, the legislators voted to reject Cayetano’s offer.
Previously, a manifesto was published showing the support of 202 legislators for Cayetano.
According to Cayetano, the president repeatedly asked Velasco to move the shared term agreement to December to make way for the deliberations of the 2021 national budget project.
But Cayetano said Velasco insisted that the term-shared agreement begin on October 14.
“The President asked for this, not to give me a few months as Spokesperson but because it was for the good of the country, not stop [this is not for] Year; why [this is for the] budget. But this appeal to Congressman Velasco was rejected many, many times despite the reasoning given, ”Cayetano added.
While Velasco could win after his resignation, Cayetano said: “I will make an intrepid forecast: He will not win. Or if I step aside
He will win after a week it will be a hit. Why? Many popular to Congress “.
According to the Constitution, a majority of all members is required to be elected President. Then I can step aside. But I can guarantee that he will not be elected, ”he added.
Velasco Camp
If they will follow Tuesday’s meeting with Duterte, Mindoro representative Doy Leachon and Buhay Party roster representative Lito Atienza said Cayetano will take over as speaker on October 14.
Leachon said that none other than President Duterte witnessed the agreement between the two parties.
“It was the agreement and it was enforced during the time they were discussing between the 3. Both parties agreed to a change of leadership on October 14 in front of the president,” Leachon said.
He added that the current leadership tried to speak sweetly with President Duterte to extend his term until after Cayetano’s birthday on October 28, but Velasco objected.
“Furthermore, it is true that those of Cayetano launched personal attacks against Velasco in a meeting with President Duterte last night; Velasco was openly insulted, ”Leachon said as the president prevailed over Cayetano’s allies.
‘Soap opera of insincerity’
In a separate interview, Atienza struck out at the current leadership for making it appear that Velasco did not comply with the shared term agreement.
Atienza agreed that leadership changes would still go through the election process while certain committee chairs would be retained.
In addition, Atienza accused Cayetano of creating a drama, saying “you create a script, you follow the script.”
Atienza said this is not the right time for the current president to resign amid the shared term agreement. “I voted to reject the resignation of the Speaker of the House because he is supposed to resign in mid-October. He created a drama, followed a ‘script’ with allies he depended on, “he added.
In a subsequent interview with CNN Philippines, Atienza said that the Chamber need not look so chaotic if only Cayetano’s word can be trusted, saying that the Speaker had woven “a soap opera of insincerity.”
After the political noise, the plenary, meanwhile, decided to suspend the plenary deliberations on the budget of P4.5 billion for 2021 until this Friday.
