THE Liberal Party leadership of the House of Representatives should yield their positions to a looming pro-Duterte coalition in the chamber so the administration can push its legislative agenda, congressman-in-waiting Harry Roque said Monday.
“The election results is a complete repudiation of the yellow forces,” said Roque, the first nominee of the Kabayan party-list which, as of 6:45 p.m., had garnered 2.6 percent of votes cast in the May 9 elections.
Kabayan is among the party-list groups virtually assured of getting at least one seat in the House. The other top parties are Ako Bicol (5.2 percent), Gabriela (4.3 percent), 1Pacman (4.1 percent), Act Teachers (3.7 percent) and Senior Citizens (3 percent).
“Speaker [Feliciano] Belmonte [Jr.] should now allow [newly elected Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon] ‘Bebot’ Alvarez to assume the speakership rather than be obstructive,” Roque said.
“Belmonte and his yellow cohorts have had their time and their time is now up. He should allow changes in Congress pursuant to the mandate given by the people to Duterte,” he added.
Alvarez has been endorsed by the PDP-Laban, under which Duterte ran and won, as next House speaker.
“If it is really the people’s welfare they have in mind and not their party’s, then the LP must allow Duterte to reorganize Congress,” he added.
Meanwhile, three newly elected congressmen submitted their certificates of proclamation to the secretary-general of the House, lawyer Marilyn Barua-Yap, as required by the rules of the chamber.
Congressmen-elect John Marvin “Yul Servo” Nieto of the third district of Manila and Edward Maceda of the fourth district of Manila paid a courtesy call on Barua-Yap last Friday to submit election documents certifying their victory during the last elections.
The actor-turned-politician Nieto from the Asenso Manileño party defeated former representative and Nacionalista Party bet Harry Angping. Nieto garnered 45,944 votes as opposed to Angping’s 38,265 votes.
Before running for a congressional seat, Nieto served for three terms as city councilor of the 3rd District of Manila.
Maceda, a three-term councilor and also from the Asenso Manileño party ran against two-term councilor Don Juan “DJ” Bagatsing, one-term councilor Science Reyes, and former Ateneo basketball player Jobe Nkemakolam.
Maceda, who got 45,415 votes, defeated independent candidate Reyes (23,407), Bakaka candidate Bagatsing (23,331), NUP’s Rosemary “Annie” Leilani Bonoan (15,954) and PDP-Laban’s bet Nkemakolam (1,242).
Maceda is the son of former Senator Ernesto Maceda and Marichu Maceda of the famous Vera-Perez clan.
Meanwhile, the congressional seat of the Third District of Nueva Ecija was won by Rosanna Ria Vergara, wife of re-electionist Cabanatuan Mayor Julius Cesar Vergara.
Vergara defeated Governor Aurelio Umali, husband of Rep. Czarina Umali, who ran for governor to succeed her husband.
The neophyte congressmen were briefed by the House official and were given their respective kits.