House Speaker candidates respect President’s decision
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Fri, 28 Jun 2019 06:59:57 +0000
Leading candidates for House Speaker said yesterday they respect the decision of President Duterte to let members of the House of Representative decide who their next leader will be.
At the same time, senior administration congressmen lauded the Chief Executive’s decision to junk the term-sharing proposal that was supported by Taguig-Pateros Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano but rejected by prospective ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan nominee Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco.
Reps. Mikee Romero (1Pacman partylist) and Lito Atienza (Buhay partylist) said they are strongly opposed to any term-sharing scheme that may be carried out by leading speakership bets.
Reacting to Duterte’s decision to leavehis choice for speaker blank, Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, president of Lakas-CMD, said the Chief Executive just made a “selfless act that is truly commendable.”
“From the President’s latest announcement, we get the impression that he values more the independence of the House of Representatives and the congressmen’s right to elect their own leaders,” explained Romualdez, who is among the leading candidates for the top House leadership position.
Romualdez said Duterte’s endorsement would have “sealed the victory of any candidate, because congressmen “give premium value to his endorsement.”
“Let not party affiliation be the basis of voting for speaker. Better that we have a multi-party coalition which is geared towards swift approval of the President’s legislative agenda,” Romualdez said.
He added: “A unified Congress, after all, is what the President needs to help him realize his vision of stability and growth for our country.” (Ben Rosario)