Budget bill triggers a leadership row in the House

Vice President Paolo Duterte, the president’s son, has threatened to force a change in the leadership of the House of Representatives amid complaints about the partisan and unequal distribution of funds in the proposed $ 4.5 trillion national budget for 2021.

In a Viber message sent to colleagues on Saturday, the Davao city junior representative warned that he would ask the Mindanao bloc to declare the seats of President Alan Peter Cayetano and 22 vice presidents vacant during Monday’s session.

Later in a statement, Duterte confirmed making the threat, calling it “an expression of my personal dismay at hearing the concerns of my fellow legislators.”

But he added that it was up to his colleagues to take action against the House leadership, if they so wished.

Ready for consequences

“If members of Congress push for a change in House leadership, in reaction to their feelings, obviously I would be among the victims because I am a vice president. I am willing to accept the consequences, ”Duterte said.

He said he would leave the decision to his colleagues, as his blood ties to President Duterte compromised him. “Anything that comes out of my actions or my mouth could be interpreted or manipulated as having my father’s blessing,” he said.

The threat was sparked by disgruntled Mindanao lawmakers who were unhappy with their districts’ participation in the 2021 budget.

A screenshot of the message obtained by the Inquirer showed Duterte telling his friend, ACT-CIS Representative Eric Yap, chairman of the House appropriations panel, in Filipino: “I had warned you, I was keeping quiet because the President was no longer speaking to me. Now, I’ve been dragged into this. “

“I will ask the Mindanao bloc to declare the post of Spokesperson and Vice Presidents vacant [on] Monday. Mindanao won’t die just because it doesn’t have a budget! “My message to Cong.” Eric Yap “.

The screenshot was provided to the Inquirer by a veteran House legislator who received the message in a group chat on Saturday.

The Inquirer source said many House members were frustrated with the budget reporting and lack of transparency on a number of discretionary lump sum items, which critics had derided as “pig.”

No transparency

“There was no transparency in some budget items. Lump sum appropriations should be broken down by item of expense, by region, by district, ”he said.

The legislator said it was also obvious that there was favoritism in the amounts allocated to individual districts.

“It is very evident that the congressmen close to the House leadership are getting most of the budget pie,” Duterte said.

The matter was compounded by uncertainty over whether the planned rotation of the Cayetano House leadership to Marinduque representative Lord Allan Velasco, with whom the Speaker has a shared term agreement, would still take place.

Under the “15-21 agreement”, the Taguig legislator is supposed to act as spokesperson for only 15 months, while the Marinduque congressman will take office for the remaining 21 months. The rotation is supposed to take place in October or early November.

But the two sides are now fighting over the 2021 budget, and disagreements are likely to erupt into another nasty battle for the speaker’s spot.

On Saturday, the Inquirer reported that the president made a comment about sympathizing with Velasco during his meeting with Cayetano in Malacañang and that the comment was interpreted by Cayetano as endorsement of his plan to withdraw his “gentlemen’s agreement” with Velasco.

Last week, Cayetano and Velasco’s allies traded criticism and insults over questionable public works assignments in the 2021 budget, allegedly favoring the districts of House leaders, including Cayetano and Vice President Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr.

Taguig, Camarines get more

The representative of Negros Oriental, Arnolfo Teves Jr., questioned why the city of Taguig and the province of Camarines Sur, the districts of origin of Cayetano and Villafuerte, were receiving more than P8 billion and P11 billion, respectively, much more than the P2 billion in his own district.

Villafuerte then accused Teves of being a lackey of former Negros Occidental representative Albee Benítez, who was allegedly backing Velasco as the next Speaker.

As of Sunday, it was unclear whether the plan to vacate the House seats would continue.

“I have no idea if the numbers can be reached, but if it comes from DS Duterte, it can cause a surge,” said the lawmaker who spoke to the Inquirer.

Not confirmed

Yap also didn’t want to confirm if Duterte still planned to carry out his threat.

“It is difficult to comment. All I can say is that it is not confirmed because [Duterte and I] I have not spoken personally, ”the legislator of the party list told the Inquirer by phone.

“What I know is that he (Duterte) has nothing to do with the speaker’s fight. That’s between Lord and Speaker Cayetano, ”Yap said.

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