Stripped of the speakership in a surprise power grab, Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez conceded defeat to Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, saying it was time to move on.
“We cannot undo the past, but we can certainly shape our future. The House of Representatives has chosen a new Speaker in the person of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. For the sake of the nation, let us get back to work and move on,” Alvarez said.
This developed even a House Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas questioned the legitimacy of Arroyo’s election.
The session Wednesday was presided by Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. when it adopted a resolution authored by Reps. Rolando Andaya of Camarines Sur and Karlo Nograles of Davao City, electing Mrs. Arroyo to the post. The resolution was adopted by a voice vote.
But Fariñas asked if the resolution had gone through the regular process, noting that all bills and resolutions that have been transacted in the plenary have to go through the House committee on rules.
Andaya said the resolution had gone through the process, and that Deputy Speaker and Capiz Rep. Fredenil Castro has been elected as the majority leader after the election of Arroyo Monday night.
But Fariñas said that being the majority leader, he was not aware that the resolution indeed passed through the House rules committee.
“The deputy speaker [Castro] has introduced a resolution. As of the last session, the other day [Tuesday], I [was] the majority leader of the House of Representatives and the chairman of the committee on Rules, may I know if this resolution passed the committee on rules,” Fariñas said.
Andaya said the majority had agreed that Castro was designated as the acting majority leader and the resolution being questioned had gibe through his table.
In the middle of the heated argument, ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio took the microphone and tried to object.
“Objection! There is an objection! Don’t you recognize this? There’s an objection about recognizing the new Speaker. It’s very obvious. You should be ashamed!” Tinio said in Filipino.
The session was suspended for a few minutes, then adjourned, leaving the matter unresolved.
An Arroyo ally in the House said Alvarez could have been ousted last year, if the former President could be convinced to make a go of it.
Alvarez-appointed deputy speaker and Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya made the disclosure, saying Arroyo accepted the challenge only after finding out she had an “overwhelming support” from her colleagues.
“As far as I could remember, it has been one year since her supporters started to convince her to replace the then Speaker and assume leadership of the House of Representatives,” Andaya said.
“It took her a year to take the challenge,” he added.
Andaya said he witnessed the growing disenchantment over Alvarez’s handling of the House and his personal comportment.
And most of the House members believe Arroyo will be a better Speaker, she being a former president; not to mention her track record as an economist and public servant. And so leaders from various political groups and parties urged her to challenge the speakership, Andaya added.
“The leaders of various political parties have faith in the qualification and experience of the former president and so she had obtained an overwhelming support from them,” Andaya said.
Apart from their “personal complaints,” Andaya said the “overwhelming number” of his colleagues were worried over Alvarez’s inability to push the economic agenda of the President.
“The biggest reason [for the growing disenchantment] would be his capability to push the economic agenda of the President,” Andaya said.
Mrs. Arroyo was finally convinced on Monday, Andaya said.
“She saw she had an overwhelming support, she was asked to lead and that was very difficult to turn down,” Andaya said
Rumors of an oust-Alvarez move spread last year but it was downplayed by Alvarez and denied by some legislators who were implicated in that move.
Many of those legislators were victims of what they called Alvarez’s alleged “bullying style of leadership.”
A case in point—Alvarez removed Arroyo as one of the House deputy speakers when she voted against the death penalty bill last year.
Meanwhile, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said amending the Constitution to establish a federal system of government as President Rodrigo Duterte wants is not among the priorities of his chamber, and said there was “a very slim” chance of it being passed this year.
“We have asked the members of the Senate to submit a maximum of three priority bills so that we may be able to consult and sit down with the House and the Executive department to put it together. None of the submissions contain the [Charter change]. You take it from there,” Sotto said.
He said, however, they have agreed to let the committee on constitutional amendments discuss the President’s proposal.
Sotto welcomed the news that the new Speaker would not support a postponement of the May 2019 elections, saying nobody in the Senate would support a no-election scenario.
He admitted that some senators were not comfortable with Mrs. Arroyo as Speaker, but said that was only “on a personal level.”
“We will do our job description no matter who is Speaker, no matter who is a congressman,” Sotto said.
Senator Panfilo Lacson also warned if the ascension to the speakership of Arroyo is a prelude to becoming prime minister, “they better think twice.”
In the Senate, he said, both the majority and minority have agreed to close ranks to defend and assert their role under the 1987 Constitution in revising or amending the same.
“That, I can say with certainty and conviction,” he added.
In an interview Wednesday, Arroyo said Charter change would remain a priority, although it is up to the Senate whether Congress will convene as a constituent assembly.
Unlike her predecessor, Mrs. Arroyo did not say the House could do this on its own, without the Senate.
“It requires two Houses so the ball is in the Senate,” she said.