Oust me, speaker dares lawmakers
Credit to Author: Divina Nova Joy Dela Cruz| Date: Mon, 02 Mar 2020 16:25:49 +0000
THE dispute over the top post at the House of Representatives took a turn for the worse on Monday as heads rolled and Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano dared lawmakers to remove him if they no longer wanted him in his post.
“I cannot predict what’s going to happen on the floor, which can happen anytime and any member can make any motion,” Cayetano told reporters on the sidelines of an event at the Southern Police District.
“But very clear naman ‘yung sinabi ko last week na kung ayaw niyo na sa’kin, hindi niyo kayang suportahan ‘yung mga reporma na tinutulak ko, palitan niyo na ‘ko (What I said was very clear: If you no longer want me and you cannot support the reforms I initiated, remove me.) So, definitely they will either have to ask me to resign, or they have to move that all seats are vacant,” he added.
But he said if majority of lawmakers wanted him to stay, the “coup plotters” must support his leadership.
“If the majority says stay ka muna, because maganda ‘yung ginagawa mo, then sabi ko, choice ngayon n’ung mga nagku-coup. Kung kaya niyo ako suportahan, kaya niyo magtrabaho, wala tayong pag-uusapan (If the majority says you stay because we like your reforms, then the coup plotters will have to make a choice. If you can support me, if you can do your work, we have nothing to discuss.) Continue where you are,” Cayetano added.
“But if you’re going to continue your intrigues, umalis na lang kayo sa posisyon niyo, and then doon kayo bumalik pagka naging speaker si Congressman [Lord Allan] Velasco (just leave and come back when Congressman Velasco becomes speaker),” he said.
Last week, Cayetano said he might remove heads of committees if they continue to disrupt the work in the chamber.
Replaced
Heads indeed rolled on Monday, as a number of committee heads were removed from their posts.
During the plenary session, Senior Deputy Majority Leader Rep. Jesus Crispin Remulla nominated and elected the new committee leaders.
Davao City Third District Rep. Isidro Ungab was removed from his chairmanship of the Committee on Appropriations. He was replaced by Anti-Crime and Terrorism Community Involvement and Support party-list Rep. Eric Yap.
Oriental Mindoro Rep. Salvador Leachon was booted out as chairman of the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal and was replaced by Kabayan party-list Rep. Ron Salo.
Abra Rep. Joseph Bernos replaced Yap as head of the Committee on Games and Amusements.
No lawmaker objected to the changes.
Yap said he had no idea what happened during the weekend because he was out of town.
Ungab said he accepted his fate: “I believe that the only guide to a man is his conscience and the truth will always prevail no matter what. I have served my country and people well to the utmost of my ability. I accept my fate and so be it.”
Leachon, meanwhile, believed that his removal was in connection with the alleged insertions in the 2020 budget.
“But I’m perfectly okay. I will always be mighty proud of my actions, as I was taught that there is never a wrong time doing the right thing. They can rob and take away all of our positions, especially from PDP-Laban (Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan), but we’ll never bow down to this masked leadership of tyranny. It will be always a nice feeling putting a hard fight for a friend and our cause,” he said.
“But if I may ask Cong[ressman] Lray still, why is his reply to my challenge to him only met with purely name calling and this retaliation of removal. It’s quite obvious that he was hit hard and then purposely evaded the issue about his ‘pork barrel’ insertions of almost P6 billion pesos in the 2020 General Appropriations Act (GAA), including the Iconic Capitol Building Phase 1 worth P750 million with the convention center at Pili, Camarines Sur, where his son is the provincial governor; thereby bloating his district budget to more than P7 billion. his might be the billion-peso reason also why they removed Cong[ressman] Sid Ungab as Appropriations committee chair who couldn’t stand their abuse in the 2020 GAA preparation,” he said, referring to Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr.
“Very clear in here, they go amuck on a self created scenario of alleged coup of House leadership to have a reason to dishonor the term-sharing agreement with Cong[ressman] Lord Velasco in order to perpetuate their throne so with their protection for self gain budget insertions for succeeding 2 years in Congress,” Leachon added.
Controversy started last week when Cayetano claimed that there was an attempt to unseat him, tagging Velasco behind the plot. Velasco’s camp has denied any coup plot, saying he would honor the term-sharing agreement brokered by President Rodrigo Duterte.
Under the term-sharing deal, Cayetano would hold the speaker’s post for 15 months or from July last year to October this year. Velasco would get the remaining 21 months until the end of the 18th Congress.