Duterte tells Lord: We were both fooled

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte was disappointed and felt deceived by Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano’s  reneging on a “gentleman’s agreement” for a term-sharing deal in the House of Representatives, which has threatened the timely passage of the P4.5-trillion budget for 2021, Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco said yesterday.

Velasco said that during a meeting at Malacañang early this week, Duterte did not hide his disappointment with Cayetano’s actions.

“I saw the anger in the President. He told me, ‘Lord, it’s not just you who was humiliated here; both of us.’ Actually, the President used the words, ‘Lord, the two of us were fooled’,” Velasco said.

He said Cayetano’s presidential ambition and his determination to cling to the Speaker’s post should explain his antics at the House of Representatives, like declaring the suspension of session until Nov.16.

“He (Cayetano) is fighting for personal interest and ambition. Can you imagine he would muddle the entire budget process? Why? Out of fear. Speaker Cayetano is doing everything to be able to achieve his personal ambition and interest to become president in 2022,” Velasco said in an interview with “Headstart” on ANC.

Velasco further maintained that by pursuing such ambition, the Speaker has betrayed the President by not honoring their gentleman’s agreement during a recent meeting in the Palace. Cayetano supposedly promised Duterte that he would  resign on Oct. 14.

The Marinduque lawmaker said Cayetano wanted to avoid the speakership showdown set on Oct. 14.

““Speaker Cayetano is afraid because he does not have the numbers. As easy as that... We are very confident that we have majority of the congressmen supporting our cause,” he claimed.

Velasco’s allies claimed earlier this week that they already have the backing of over 160 congressmen, which would be enough to give him the speakership post – as originally planned under the “15-21” term-sharing agreement.

“We’ll see what the majority’s decision will be on Oct. 14,” he stressed, hinting that he would still pursue the speakership post, reportedly upon the advice of the President himself.

Velasco launched the fresh round of attacks on Cayetano despite President Duterte’s appeal to both camps to stop their bickering and buckle down to work to ensure the timely passage of the budget measure.

“Stop playing your games in Congress, it’s the budget that’s being imperiled,” Duterte told congressmen in his televised address last Thursday night.

Velasco also called for the immediate resumption of House session to have the budget bill approved on third and final reading sooner, reiterating that the unilateral suspension of session for over one month violated the 1987 Constitution.

“The President himself has said that this is unconstitutional. Congress cannot suspend session for more than three days without the concurrence of the Senate. It is illegal,” he argued.

Velasco cited Section 16, Article VI of the Constitution, which requires both houses of Congress to get each other’s consent when adjourning session for more than three days.

The said provision states, “Neither House during the sessions of the Congress shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.”

“The message of the President was loud and clear: he wants the budget passed on time, and it has to be constitutional. What he gave was a warning to Congress to do its job,” Velasco explained.

“The only thing we need right now is for Speaker Cayetano to resume the session... I’m always open for anything that would pass the budget and settle our row in Congress,” he said.

Apart from personal agenda, Velasco also accused Cayetano of protecting the huge budget for his allies.

“Cayetano wants to see the budget through to protect allocations of his allies. You can really see the inequality in the 2021 budget,” he pointed out.

Velasco also lamented that the abrupt suspension of session and passage of the budget bill on second reading jeopardized the budget of many agencies that were not subjected to plenary deliberations, including the crucial pandemic budget of the Department of Health (DOH).

A list obtained by The STAR showed that 27 agencies and budget items were passed on second reading without deliberations or determination by the plenary.

Among these agencies are the DOH, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Transportation, Department of Tourism and Department of Public Works and Highways – all covering sectors affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, more congressmen have joined the calls for immediate resumption of session to complete the budget process.

Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr., president of National Unity Party, said fellow congressmen should act immediately on the President’s calls.

“If we don’t pass the 2021 national budget, the President will solve the problem. That’s his message. I think there should be a resumption of budget deliberations,” he told CNN Philippines.

Barzaga, however, clarified that this is his personal opinion and that the NUP – the second biggest bloc in Congress – has yet to come up with an official stand on the matter.

The House minority bloc and the Makabayan bloc have already denounced the move by Cayetano and his allies and called for immediate resumption of session.

In separate statements, the two groups lamented how the national budget had been dragged into the speakership battle between Cayetano and Velasco.