MANILA, Philippines — Members of the House of Representatives’ Makabayan have been accepted as part of the 'minority' bloc composed of Liberal Party legislators and their allies.
According to a letter from Rep. Romero Quimbo (Marikina) to House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, which was obtained by News5, Reps. Antonio Tinio and France Castro (ACT-Teachers), Arlene Brosas and Emmi De Jesus (Gabriela), Isagani Zarate (Bayan Muna), Ariel Casilao (Anakpawis) and Sarah Jane Elago (Kabataan) have joined the Quimbo-led faction laying claim to be the official minority bloc.
JUST IN: LP, Magnificent 7 at Makabayan bloc nagsama-sama na bilang Minorya sa Kamara pic.twitter.com/k9RMkZ87tu
— Roices Naguit (@RoicesNaguit) July 30, 2018
The party-list solons earlier said they were ready to tie up with other groups to oppose the Duterte administration’s “anti-people” agenda.
The Makabayan bloc was part of the supermajority led by ousted Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez (Davao del Norte) but left over disagreements with the Duterte administration’s policies on, among others, the peace talks with communist rebels and the government’s “war on drugs.”
Rep. Josephine Ramirez-Sato (Occidental Mindoro) and the so-called Magnificent 7’s Reps. Tomasito Villarin (Akbayan) and Gary Alejano (Magdalo) have been also accepted to Quimbo's minority faction.
Quimbo reiterated in his letter that they are the “duly-constituted and organized” minority bloc amid a standoff between factions at the House on who should be recognized the minority and who would be its leader.
READ: LP solons form House minority bloc under Arroyo leadership
Last week, the 12 lawmakers who did not vote for Arroyo declared they were the “duly-constituted minority."
They were Quimbo, Francis Gerald Abaya (Cavite), Kaka Bag-ao (Dinagat Islands), Teddy Baguilat (Ifugao), Jorge Banal (Quezon City), Jose Christopher Belmonte (Quezon City), Gabriel Bordado (Camarines Sur), Raul Daza (Northern Samar), Christopher De Venecia (Pangasinan), Edgar Erice (Caloocan City), Edcel Lagman (Albay) and Jocelyn Sy Limkaichong (Negros Oriental).
The Quimbo-led faction is contending with group by Rep. Danilo Suarez (Quezon)—who voted for Arroyo—and the bloc of Alvarez for recognition as the chamber’s official minority bloc, which is supposed to be a check on the powerful majority.
The duly-recognized minority has guaranteed membership in committees while legislators who are considered independent do not.
READ: House factions disagree on who should be 'real' minority