MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte will meet once again with Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano (Taguig-Pateros) and Rep. Lord Allan Velasco (Marinduque) following the latter’s election as speaker by 186 lawmakers.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque confirmed to reporters that Duterte will meet with Cayetano and Velasco at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the Malacañang Golf Clubhouse to discuss the passage of the proposed 2021 national budget.
Malacañang has said that Duterte is now fed up with the intramurals at the House and is only concerned with the P4.5-trillion outlay for next year.
In a recorded address broadcast last week, Duterte said he would intervene if the House does not solve the budget delay, caused by Cayetano’s abrupt suspension of debates on the measure and his allies’ move to suspend session until November 16.
Duterte made do with his promise by calling for a special session of Congress from Tuesday until Friday and certifying the fiscal plan as urgent.
This would be the president’s third meeting with the two lawmakers who are both claiming to be the legitimate House speaker. Duterte had previously met with the two lawmakers on September 29 in an attempt to settle the term-sharing question, but this only led to the two warring factions issuing contradictory statements on what happened during the meeting.
Under the term-sharing agreement brokered by Duterte in 2019, Cayetano is to sit as House speaker for 15 months, ending this month, followed by Velasco for 21 months.
The Cayetano faction insists that the term-sharing deal is now moot, after Cayetano offered to step down on September 30, only for 184 lawmakers to reject his resignation.
The Velasco bloc, meanwhile, now insists that the Marinduque lawmaker is now the legitimate speaker following his election by a majority of lawmakers Monday. This is being contested by the Cayetano faction.