Sara’s party rejects House term-sharing
Credit to Author: CATHERINE S. VALENTE, TMT| Date: Thu, 04 Jul 2019 16:15:25 +0000
The Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HnP) has rejected the term-sharing proposal for the frontrunners in the speakership race, saying it would derail the passage of vital measures.
Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio on Thursday said her party was not amenable to the proposed sharing of term because it was “counterproductive.”
“HnP will not gun for term- sharing for the speaker of the House. It is counterproductive. It will slow down [the development] during the last three years of the administration of President [Rodrigo] Duterte,” she told The Manila Times in a text message.
Under a term-sharing scheme, Duterte-Carpio, who heads the HnP, said the House of Representatives “will be racked with deceit, dissent and distrust.”
“We do not know why the term-sharing influencers do not seem to care what will happen to the House. They just want to install a speaker and do not think about what comes after,” she said.
“Let us leave the Speaker issue to the members of the House of Representatives and the political parties, and that includes HnP and HTL,” she added, referring to Hugpong sa Tawong Lungsod, the local political party that her father founded several years ago.
The ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) party had expressed openness to the idea of term-sharing among those eyeing the House top post.
Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel 3rd, president of the PDP-Laban, said on Thursday that the ruling party was open to a term-sharing agreement as long as its nominee, Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco, gets to serve first “since he already has an overwhelming number of members of Congress supporting him.”
President Duterte, the ruling party’s chairman, earlier said Taguig Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano agreed to serve as speaker for 15 months and be succeeded by Velasco, who would be speaker for 21 months.
Velasco, however, denied that there was such an agreement.
The President’s son, Davao City First District Rep. Paolo Duterte, has also expressed his intent to join the speakership race.
However, the HnP endorsed Davao City Third District Rep. Isidro Ungab for the post.
The HnP suggested that instead of a term-sharing agreement, those eyeing the post of speaker should get other posts — majority leader for Cayetano, chairmanships of the committees on appropriation and accounts, respectively, for Velasco and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez.
With only 18 days until the House elects its new speaker, lawmakers urged the President anew to endorse his bet “to ease friction” among groups and contenders.
Albay Rep. Joey Salceda said a presidential intervention was necessary to unite House members.
“Kung maging bukas si President Duterte, automatic 300 po iyan out of 306 will form a supermajority coalition. Isang salita lang po niya, mag-co-converge d’un (If President Duterte is open to an endorsement, 300 out of 306 members will automatically form a supermajority coalition. With just one command, everybody will converge),” Salceda said in a forum.
If the President would not endorse his candidate, the House would, for the first time, witness five lawmakers vying for the chamber’s top post — Velasco, Romualdez, Cayetano, Ungab and Paolo.
A candidate needs at least 154 votes to win.
Salceda said lawmakers were not used to convening a quorum without a super majority.
Majority Leader Fredenil Castro and Anakalusugan party-list Rep. Mike Defensor, who were also in the forum, echoed Salceda’s sentiment, lamenting that “there are far too many contenders” this year.
“There are two main criteria in selecting who will be the next speaker. First is the competence to lead, the knowledge and experience to steer
Congress given the diverse and complicated issues that will confront the House. The second is the ability to lead, to build consensus, having the individual trust and respect of each member based on their individual sensitivities and biases,” Defensor said.
Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate of the Makabayan bloc warned that the “self-serving political and economic interests” of the Duterte coalition would divide the chamber.
“The Duterte coalition mirror does not lie: widening cracks are now very apparent, and it is probably sooner than expected that it will totally disintegrate,” he said.
With a reports from GLEE JALEA
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