House breaks rules to name Arroyo supporter minority leader
THE House of Representatives broke its own rules on Tuesday when it kept Rep. Danilo Suarez as minority leader via a viva voce (voice vote).
Suarez’s election was swift as Majority Leader Rolando Andaya, Jr. of Camarines Sur immediately made a motion at 3:30 p.m. to end the period for debates over who should be the duly constituted minority bloc, which ultimately recognized Suarez as minority leader.
The nays sounded just as loud as the ayes, but Deputy Speaker Fredenil Castro of Capiz gave the vote to the ayes.
The impasse ended after more than a week of debates, with Rep. Romero Quimbo of Marikina City from the Liberal Party and Rep. Eugene de Vera of ABS party-list claiming that they were the legitimate minority leaders since Suarez effectively removed himself as a candidate when he voted for the winning Speaker, former president and Rep. Gloria Arroyo of Pampanga.
Rule 2, Section 8 of House rules said that “members who vote for the winning candidate for Speaker shall constitute the majority in the House and they shall elect from among themselves the majority leader” and that “the minority leader shall be elected by the members of the minority and can be changed, at any time, by a majority vote of all the minority members.”
New minority leader Danilo Suarez. PHOTO BY RUY MARTINEZ
The same section reads “a member may transfer from the majority to the minority, or vice versa, at any time: provided, that:
a. the concerned member submits a written request to transfer to the majority or minority, through the majority or minority Leaders, as the case may be. The Secretary General shall be furnished a copy of the request to transfer;
b. the majority or minority, as the case may be, accepts the concerned Member in writing; and
c. the speaker shall be furnished by the majority or the minority leaders, as the case may be, a copy of the acceptance in writing of the concerned member.
In case the majority or the minority declines such request to transfer, the concerned member shall be considered an independent member of the House.”
But a day before the stalemate ended, Majority Leader Andaya said that the Supreme Court ruling on Baguilat vs. Alvarez recognized that the House may disregard its own rules, provided that it would be approved by majority of House members in a plenary vote.
He was referring to the case wherein the High Court, in a July 2017 decision, sided with then House majority leader Rodolfo Fariñas’ decision to amend the House rules at the start of the 17th Congress in June 2016 to classify those who abstained from voting for the Speakership as members of the minority bloc. This paved the way for Suarez’s election as House minority leader with at least 22 votes.
Had the rules not been amended, the runner-up in the Speakership race at that time, Rep. Teddy Baguilat of Ifugao, would have automatically secured the minority leader post.
“In that [same]case [of Baguilat vs. Alvarez], the Supreme Court said that they cannot intervene in the procedural rules of the House. What is happening now is a procedural matter. So anyone can make a proper motion on which we [in the plenary]can vote,” Andaya said.
House sources said on Tuesday that Suarez’s group has ballooned to 42 members from 14, and that they voted for Arroyo last July 23, ousting erstwhile leader Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez of Davao del Norte.
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