CEBU, Philippines — Allies of Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco, including congressmen from Cebu and the Visayas, installed him as the new Speaker of the House of Representatives yesterday, effectively ousting Taguig Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano whose refusal to step down derailed Congress’ passage of President Duterte’s 2021 budget.
Covered live by Duterte’s broadcast arm Radio-TV Malacanang and streamed via the Facebook page of the Presidential Communications Operations Office, a total of 186 lawmakers voted to elect Velasco in rites held at the Celebrity Sports Plaza in Quezon City.
“I would like to extend my hand to Speaker Cayetano and hope that he would be amenable to sit down with me as we comply with the agreement for a peaceful transition for the benefit of our members and the country,” Velasco said in his acceptance speech.
No less than Duterte, in 2019, brokered the term-sharing agreement between Cayetano and Velasco, where the former was to serve as Speaker for the first 15 months and the latter for 21 months – a concept Cayetano himself proposed.
“Illegal”
Cayetano wouldn’t budge, saying the voting was illegal as it was held outside of the House plenary.
“Now, we have a fake session. Celebrity Sports Club is not Congress. It creates a disturbing precedent,” Cayetano said.
“Sobrang kalokohan ang ginagawa nila. Isang pambababoy sa legislature ang nangyari. I will not allow you (Velasco) to burn down this House. They (Velasco group) are calling for revolutionary government,” he insisted.
Cebu Third District Rep. Pablo John Garcia, the Deputy House Speaker for the Visayas, agreed.
“An election for Speaker can only be held in a valid session. Where can you find an election for Speaker held in a sports club?” Garcia said.
He challenged Velasco’s camp to make public the list of 186 congressmen who supposedly voted for Velasco.
“They still can't answer the question how many votes do they have and who are these people? Where's the list? Naa ba diay vote sa House nga di makita kinsa ang namotar ug kinsa ang dili? Ultimo gani bill to change name of a street kinahanglan makita ang votes sa tanan members; kini pa kahang speakership?” Garcia said.
(They still can’t answer the question how many votes do they have and who are these people? Where’s the list? Is there a vote in the House where we can’t see who voted and who didn’t? Even a vote on changing a street’s name, we must see the votes of all members; how much more a vote for the speakership?)
He also assailed the supposed Visayas vote.
“There's no such thing as a Visayas bloc that votes as one. Unsa na man lang diay mi? Way labot sa Visayas? No such thing as bloc voting,” Garcia said.
While the chamber’s building is at the Batasan Pambansa Complex in Quezon City, House members by a simple majority - or half of the entire 300-member House - can always hold sessions elsewhere, which will make their decisions eventually binding and legal.
But questions regarding where the real House Mace is have continued to linger, after pictures circulated over social media that this was smuggled out of the chamber, but which House sergeant-at-arms retired police general Ramon Apolinario categorically denied.
It could not be known yet, on the other hand, whether removing such constitutes a crime.
The Vote
Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, chairman of the House ways and means committee who was originally identified with Cayetano’s camp, has broken down the 186 votes as follows – 111 from lawmakers present physically, 45 from lawmakers who voted via Zoom, and 30 from congressmen who voted via Viber.
Early in the day, the Velasco camp showed a manifesto of support signed by leaders of political power blocs or parties under the administration coalition or the super majority in the House.
The signatories were Reps. Doy Leachon, Eric Martinez, Bondoc and Joey Salceda of PDP-Laban, Isidro Ungab (Davao City) of Hugpong ng Pagbabago, Jack Duavit (Rizal), Mark Enverga (Quezon) and Wes Gatchalian (Valenzuela City) of Nationalist People's Coalition, Reps. Mikee Romero of the Party List Coalition, Lito Atienza, Kristine Singson Meehan of the Northern Luzon Alliance, Kiko Benitez of the Visayas Bloc, Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro, Munir Arbison of the Nacionalista Party, and Raul del Mar of the Liberal Party.
Among the House officials who facilitated Velasco’s election as Speaker were Reps. Conrad Estrella (Abono party-list) who was the presiding officer during the entire proceedings and Pampanga Rep. Juan Pablo Bondoc who acted as the House Majority Leader.
Velasco took his oath before Captain Allan Francia of Barangay Balara in Quezon City.
Rep. Mikee Romero (1Pacman) who held the Holy Bible when Velasco was taking his oath said they will work for the immediate passage of the P4.5 trillion national budget for 2021 which is the main concern of President Duterte at this crucial time of pandemic.
“It’s time for us to stop this divisiveness and buckle down to work. There’s still so much to be done, and our people need this budget for next year, where we expect that a vaccine may finally be available. Let’s not lose sight of our mandate,” he said.
Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio confirmed that she and Velasco met over the weekend to discuss political matters including the Speakership, where the presidential daughter said her Hugpong ng Pagbabago party “will respect their term-sharing agreement.”
Cebu Congressmen
Del Mar said he voted for Velasco because he is sure he can get more projects for his constituents in Cebu City’s North District.
“Newly elected House Speaker Velasco proved that he had the numbers, as challenged, which was not a condition at all to their term sharing agreement in the first place,” del Mar said. “I voted for Rep. Velasco because I'm sure that he can help me get more projects for my constituents.”
Del Mar’s counterpart in the south, Rep. Rodrigo Abellanosa, also voted for Velasco and said he hopes Velasco’s leadership will rectify the inequitable allocation of the national budget as Cayetano’s camp allegedly marginalized the two districts in Cebu City.
“The Gospel of John 18:13-27 recounts the three times Peter denied the Lord. Today, the Lord denies Peter,” Abellanosa said, quoting the Bible.
Meanwhile, Cebu Sixth District Rep. Emmarie “Lolypop” Ouano-Dizon said it was a decision of PDP-Laban to support Velasco as new Speaker.
“Aside from respecting the term-sharing agreement, the House leadership is always reflective of the mandate of the majority and the coalition of parties that support the administration of President Duterte,” Ouano-Dizon said. — Philippine Star News Service, JMO (FREEMAN)
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