THE Visayan Bloc in the House of Representatives has consolidated its forces in a bid to unite behind a single candidate for speaker for the 17th Congress, a House official said Thursday.
Reelectionist Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Benitez,lead convener of the Visayan Bloc, said the group had yet to make any commitment to back any candidate for speaker of the House for the next Congress.
But the group composed of 46 congressmen would commit to support presumptive president Rodrigo Duterte’s push for his legislative advocacies on peace and order, poverty reduction, public health and education, Benitez said.
Benitez, chairman of the House Committee on Housing and Urban Development, said the group will meet next week to discuss a common stand on the speakership and welcome its new members.
Expected to be at the center of the discussion is the race for the House leadership between incumbent Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and returning Davao del Sur Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez, PDP-Laban’s secretary-general.
House sources said Belmonte, vice chairman of President Benigno Aquino III’s Liberal Party, would want to keep his post as speaker.
Belmonte has the support of at least 100 Liberal Party congressmen who will become members of the 17th Congress, while Alvarez claims Duterte is behind his speakership bid.
The sources floated Benitez’s name as a dark horse in the speakership contest.
One of them said the Visayan Bloc had at least 46 members that had been voting on key measures in the House, and that it could support any candidate for speaker.
Benitez said the Visayan Bloc had yet to pledge support for any candidate for speaker of the 17th Congress, although what its stand would be on the issue was high in its agenda.
“Right now, we can only commit to the next president our cooperation in acting on the measures that will help realize his programs for peace and order, poverty reduction, better public health and affordable education for our youth,” Benitez said.
The Visayan Bloc will reconvene on May 18, three days earlier than the original May 21 schedule.
“The resetting of the scheduled meeting to an earlier date underscores the urgency of addressing one of the most crucial tasks confronting us, which is choosing the next speaker,” Benitez said.