Duterte must enforce the term-sharing agreement he negotiated, says Lagman

(FILE) President Rodrigo Roa Duterte delivers his fifth State of the Nation Address at the House of Representatives Complex in Quezon City on July 27, 2020. PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte should enforce the shared-term agreement he organized in 2019 and which has been harassing the House of Representatives ever since, Albay District 1 Representative Edcel Lagman said Friday.

Lagman said the ongoing dispute between President Alan Peter Cayetano and Marinduque Representative Lord Allan Velasco has derailed House deliberations and jeopardized the timely enactment of the 2021 national budget.

“Given that Cayetano does not want to comply with the ’15 -21 ‘agreement on the pretext that the majority of the Representatives want him to extend his term as Spokesperson, it is up to Duterte to unequivocally enforce the shared term agreement because what President has negotiated should not be broken, as it unites Duterte’s allies, ”Lagman said in a statement.

“Duterte must tell the deputies and the people in unequivocal terms that the commitment must be respected and honored, and Cayetano must resign irrevocably and Velasco must assume the position of the new president,” he added.

Lagman added that Duterte should avoid “any ambivalent language or mystical messages” as this could be interpreted differently by the camps involved.

“Since the president said he is not a lame jerk, he must necessarily instruct his supermajority allies in the House to follow through on his clear and unequivocal solution to the impasse,” Lagman said.

“The tradition, although flawed, is that the Speaker is elected in Malacañang, and the anointing is simply confirmed by the President’s allies in the House of Representatives in an uncontested roll call vote,” he added.

Lagman also asked Duterte to convene a special session so that deliberations on the enactment of the 2021 national budget could resume and reach its timely approval.

In an unexpected move, Cayetano and his allies decided to end deliberations on the planned spending measure, even if several of the funds proposed by various government agencies are still being analyzed.

After the debate and amendment period closed, on October 6 the budget was approved in second reading.

Consequently, the House sessions are suspended until November 16, which means that there would be no session on October 14 when the participation problem was supposed to be resolved.

KGA

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