Paolo Duterte drops out of race for House Speaker
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Sat, 06 Jul 2019 09:10:54 +0000
REP. Duterte
Heeding the advice of his father, President Duterte, Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte decided yesterday to drop plans to run for speaker of the House of Representatives.
Instead, Paolo said he will support the speakership bid of fellow Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, recently announced as the official candidate for speaker of Hugpong ng Pagbabago.
“I have personally spoken to President Rodrigo Duterte Thursday night in Davao City regarding my plan to run for speaker of the House of Representatives. We both agreed that this will not be the right time for me to be Speaker and I can still help his administration from the House in a different capacity,” stated Rep. Duterte.
He added: “As President of Hugpong sa Tawong Lungsod, I will support the bid for speakership of Congressman Isidro Ungab from our sister party, Hugpong ng Pagbabago.”
According to the neophyte lawmaker, his father has “been fully informed” of Ungab’s bid to be the House leader in the 18th Congress.
Despite appeals from leaders of the administration coalition in the House, the President declared he will no longer anoint his personal choice for the hotly contested speakership post.
However, recent developments indicated that senior Cabinet officials have been trying to influence President Duterte to reconsider his decision and instead recommend a term-sharing scheme between former Foreign Affairs Secretary now Taguig-Pateros Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano and Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco, the dominant Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan’s official candidate for speaker.
Rep. Duterte decried the reported intervention of Cabinet officials, declaring on Tuesday that he will seek the speakership.
Last Friday, the Davao City lawmaker joined Ungab and at least nine other congressmen representing the HNP regional party and partylist organizations in forming the “Duterte Coalition” that declared participation in the search for a speaker.
The creation of the Duterte Coalition was seen by observers as a move aimed at forestalling the plan of Cabinet officials to win President Duterte’s support and put in place a term-sharing scheme. (Ben Rosario)