House formally elects Arroyo as speaker

MANILA, Philippines — Members of the House of Representatives on Monday formally installed Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (Pampanga) as its new speaker, replacing Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez (Davao Del Norte) in a day of political drama never before seen at a president's State of the Nation Address.

Arroyo was elected House leader by 184 lawmakers with 12 abstentions. The vote marks the end of a dramatic Monday that saw the removal of Alvarez, one of the closest allies of the president and a ranking official of the ruling PDP-Laban.

Lawmakers from different parties and party-list groups accompanied Arroyo to the speaker's rostrum where she took her oath of office for the second time on Monday.

Monday morning was greeted with news that Alvarez was about to be ousted as a speaker, with President Rodrigo Duterte's daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, supposedly leading the moves.

Arroyo was sworn in as House leader just a few minutes before Duterte was scheduled to deliver his SONA at 4 p.m., after she got the signature of enough members to topple Alvarez, who is the secretary general of the ruling PDP-Laban.

This procedure of Arroyo's election was questioned.

The negotiations between Arroyo's and Alvarez's camps over the standoff consumed more than an hour, which consequently delayed the president's address.

ANC quoted its sources as saying that there was an agreement for Alvarez to preside over the joint session of Congress and for members of the House to stay after SONA to formalize the leadership change.

Sen. Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III, the president of PDP-Laban, where Alvarez is the secretary general, said the House should resolve the issue in accordance with its own rules.

He was earlier quoted as saying that PDP-Laban members should support the former House speaker.

At one point after Arroyo's election, she went up the speaker's rostrum and tried to address the plenary, but the audio connection of the microphones was unavailable.

After the fracas, Alvarez was still the one who welcomed Duterte together with Senate President Vicente Sotto III when the president arrived in the House complex.

Arroyo's election as speaker marks a big political turnaround for the former president, who was jailed and accused of graft during the administration of former President Benigno Aquino III.

She became president in 2001 after former President Joseph Estrada was ousted by a popular military-backed revolution.

Despite her initial pledge not to seek another term, she ran in 2004 and won an election which supporters of her main rival, the late actor Ferdinand Poe Jr., said was marred with cheating.

Since then, Arroyo's popularity plummeted as her presidency was buffeted by political and corruption scandals.

Now that she is the House leader, she will be tasked to lead the deliberations on proposals to amend the 1987 Constitution, key promise of the president.

Sen. Grace Poe, FPJ's daughter, expressed her opposition to Arroyo's election and said that the former leader might push for a parliamentary form of government.

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