Former political rivals heap praise on Cayetano for high approval rating
Published Oct 7, 2019 04:02 pm
By Ben Rosario
Non-believers have started to have faith in Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano’s brand of leadership in the House of Representatives.
1PACMAN partylist Rep. Michael "Mikee" Romero
(RIO DELUVIO / MANILA BULLETIN) Deputy Speaker Mikee Romero (1PACMAN Partylist) and Rep. Michael Defensor (Anakalusugan Partylist) applauded Cayetano who received a high 64 percent public approval rating, the highest grade received by a speaker during the term of President Rodrigo Duterte. Romero and Defensor supported different candidates in the speakership race. Romero, president of the 52-member Partylist Coalition Foundation Inc., backed Cayetano immediately after the incumbent speaker won a strong endorsement from President Rodrigo Duterte to lead the Lower House in the next 15 months of a term-sharing agreement with Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco. Velasco will take over the House leadership as soon as Cayetano’s term expires. “With Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano’s brand of leadership, we have no reason to doubt that the House of Representatives will continue to win the hearts of Filipinos,” Romero said in a press statement. He added: “Sincerity, industry and loyalty to the people – traits that embody the speaker’s personality – did not go unnoticed. He truly deserved the trust of our people.” According to Romero the PCFI congressmen have drawn “inspiration from what the Speaker has done and has been doing for our nation.” Defensor, recently elected as chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, was a known campaigner for Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, who also received a Duterte backing as majority leader. “I did not campaign for Speaker Alan Cayetano but I have to admit that his work ethics, his competence and vision for our nation has made the collective membership of the House of Representatives to work harder - side by side with the leadership and thus the approval ratings,” said Defensor, a former Quezon City congressman. Only three months in his post as speaker, Cayetano already posted a high 65 percent public approval rating based on the results of recent Pulse Asia survey. The Taguig-Pateros lawmaker has recently led the Lower House in the early passage of the proposed 2020 General Appropriations Bill, thus, helping guarantee that enactment will among the swiftest in Lower House history. His high approval rating was higher than those of his predecessors former president and speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and incumbent Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez. Arroyo public approval ratings based on the Pulse Asia survey in the midyear of 2019 was 26 percent while Alvarez’s received a high 42 percent in 2017.
1PACMAN partylist Rep. Michael "Mikee" Romero(RIO DELUVIO / MANILA BULLETIN) Deputy Speaker Mikee Romero (1PACMAN Partylist) and Rep. Michael Defensor (Anakalusugan Partylist) applauded Cayetano who received a high 64 percent public approval rating, the highest grade received by a speaker during the term of President Rodrigo Duterte. Romero and Defensor supported different candidates in the speakership race. Romero, president of the 52-member Partylist Coalition Foundation Inc., backed Cayetano immediately after the incumbent speaker won a strong endorsement from President Rodrigo Duterte to lead the Lower House in the next 15 months of a term-sharing agreement with Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco. Velasco will take over the House leadership as soon as Cayetano’s term expires. “With Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano’s brand of leadership, we have no reason to doubt that the House of Representatives will continue to win the hearts of Filipinos,” Romero said in a press statement. He added: “Sincerity, industry and loyalty to the people – traits that embody the speaker’s personality – did not go unnoticed. He truly deserved the trust of our people.” According to Romero the PCFI congressmen have drawn “inspiration from what the Speaker has done and has been doing for our nation.” Defensor, recently elected as chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, was a known campaigner for Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, who also received a Duterte backing as majority leader. “I did not campaign for Speaker Alan Cayetano but I have to admit that his work ethics, his competence and vision for our nation has made the collective membership of the House of Representatives to work harder - side by side with the leadership and thus the approval ratings,” said Defensor, a former Quezon City congressman. Only three months in his post as speaker, Cayetano already posted a high 65 percent public approval rating based on the results of recent Pulse Asia survey. The Taguig-Pateros lawmaker has recently led the Lower House in the early passage of the proposed 2020 General Appropriations Bill, thus, helping guarantee that enactment will among the swiftest in Lower House history. His high approval rating was higher than those of his predecessors former president and speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and incumbent Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez. Arroyo public approval ratings based on the Pulse Asia survey in the midyear of 2019 was 26 percent while Alvarez’s received a high 42 percent in 2017.