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MANILA, Philippines – In expressing his disagreement with any shared term agreement, former Davao del Norte District President and Representative Pantaleon Alvarez said Wednesday that President Alan Peter Cayetano should continue as House leader during the 18th Congress.
“Hindi ako sang-ayon is a term for sharing, this is not about being the speaker, this is about the country. Divisive yan huh, ”he said in an interview on ABS CBN News Channel.
(I don’t agree with any shared term. It’s not about the speaker, it’s about the country. The issue is divisive).
“For me, if Congressman Alan Peter Cayetano started that, you should finish it for him,” Alvarez said.
(For me, Cayetano should finish what he started).
To recall, in July 2019, President Rodrigo Duterte said that Cayetano would serve as Speaker of the House of Representatives in the first 15 months of the XVIII Congress, while the representative of Marinduque, Lord Alan Velasco, would manage to serve in the 21 months remaining under a shared term agreement.
If this continues, Cayetano’s mandate would end in October of this year.
In case the shared term agreement is approved, Álvarez said it would be difficult for the new president, who in this case is Velasco, to properly lead the Chamber, since it will be the presentation of candidacy certificates in 2021.
“What else can a new Speaker do? Let’s be practical about it, ”he said.
Álvarez served as Speaker of the Chamber during the first and second regular sessions of the XVII Congress from 2016 to 2018.
He was removed from office in a surprise coup organized by members of the House on the day of President Rodrigo Duterte’s third state of the nation speech in July 2018, and was replaced by former president and then representative of Pampanga, Gloria Macapagal Stream.
Row of speakers
The speaker agreement issue resurfaced after the presidential son and House Vice Speaker Paolo Duterte previously threatened to declare the speaker and vice presidents positions vacant amid an ongoing speaker dispute fueled by “disparity “in the infrastructure budget allocations in their respective districts.
However, this did not materialize on Monday when the session ended early.
The whole affair began when the representative of Negros Oriental Arnolfo Teves, Jr. questioned the distribution of funds between the Congressional districts, particularly those of Cayetano and Vice President Luis Raymund Villafuerte in the city of Taguig and Camarines Sur, respectively.
Cayetano has accused Velasco of being involved not only in the recent plot to overthrow him, but also in previous coup attempts.
Breaking his silence on the issue, Velasco said he is not backing out of the shared term agreement, countering accusations that he has been mute on matters and inactive in the House.
/ MUF
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