186 allies vote Velasco as House speaker in remote session
MANILA, Philippines — Moving forward with plans to unseat House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, Rep. Lord Allan Velasco (Marinduque) was elected House speaker by his allies after the faction of 186 congressmen conducted a remote session at the Celebrity Sports Plaza in Quezon City on Monday.
Cayetano and his faction have previously said that any session held by Velasco's group at this time would be illegal.
Earlier Monday, 167 House lawmakers also signed a manifesto of support for his takeover as House Speaker.
"We are all here, and this is a testament to our indomitable spirit and our collective commitment to honoring our word...who are we if we cannot live up to our word?" Velasco said as he was sworn in.
"We commit to pass laws that are responsive to the needs of our fellow Filipinos," he said.
'Legal session'
According to House rules, “[t]he position of Speaker may only be declared vacant through nominal voting by a majority vote of all the Members. In cases when all offices are declared vacant, the incumbent Secretary General shall preside over the proceedings of the House only for the purpose and until the election of a new Speaker.”
This means that more than the 152 votes are required to get a majority vote in the House.
Addressing the body via a Zoom call, Rep. Rufus Rodriguez (Cagayan de Oro, 2nd District) argued that holding the remote session was lawful and constitutional, as the mace is only symbolic since authority to hold session comes from majority of congressmen present.
"The true manifestation of authority of each house is in the plenary when there is a majority present," he said, arguing that Cayetano's suspension of the House session until mid-November was "unconstitutional as well as a violation of the legislative calendar."
The session, which was live-streamed on Radio Television Malacañang, saw lawyer Jocelia Bighani Sipin also sworn in as secretary-general of the House of Representatives.
The House session was officially suspended by Cayetano himself until Tuesday when it is set to convene for a special session that Duterte called for last week, citing the need to pass the nation's budget.
'Term-sharing deal delayed because of COVID'
In his own press conference later Monday, House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano changed his tone and claimed that he was told that the term-sharing agreement would not have to push through for the time being in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, calling the remote session a "travesty."
Under the original agreement brokered by no less than President Rodrigo Duterte himself, Cayetano is slated to turn over leadership of the House 15 months into his term to Velasco, who will preside over the lower chamber for the next 21 months.
Velasco earlier claimed that even Duterte felt that Cayetano went back on their deal.
"We have a game plan. Any time Malacanang tells us to stop, that's okay. But I was told very directly that because of the coronavirus, the October date would not be followed and I would hold the speakership maybe until December. The problem is that he is stubborn," Cayetano said.
"All he (Velasco) thinks about is power. He never thought about the institution or the image of our country," he said then. "I hope we can go back to talking about the budget and COVID instead of talking about the speakership...let's follow the president and his proclamation first."
For his part, Rep. LRay Villafuerte also slammed the Velasco faction for what he said was its usage of "black propaganda" and "fake news."
"The official venue is the Batasan in Quezon City. This is where the battle should be. You have to elect a vacancy in the plenary. What if on Monday we have another session in BGC or Taguig? We are lawmakers. We are becoming a laughingstock," he said.
'Quarantine violations'
Cayetano also slammed Velasco and his allies for what he said was their violations of quarantine protocols set by the government's coronavirus task force.
"So many country clubs have already been closed by the IATF...They're making rules, but they're also rule-breakers," he said in a mix of English and Filipino. "If that's valid, we're a banana republic. If I got 152 to meet at a country club tomorrow, do you mean that will be valid? This is unprecedented. Never in the history of the Philippines has this depravity been done to Congress."
"Nowhere in the world can you go somewhere just because there's a lot of you...these rules of the House and the Constitution, these are not just words. They are throwing away the Constitution, they are calling for a revolutionary government."
Cayetano, who previously defended the junking of ABS-CBN Corp.'s franchise application, also compared the situation to the media saying: "There is no democracy without a free press, for example."
In a statement sent to reporters Sunday afternoon, House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez said that the "gentleman's agreement" will be followed after the approval of the national budget for 2021 on its third and final reading on Friday, October 16. It is not clear how this will take place later on, and if Cayetano will be stepping down from his post.
At a separate press briefing, Palace spokesperson Harry Roque said: "Any talk of Speakership will delay the passage of the 2021 budget."
— with reports from Xave Gregorio
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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