Enforce House term-sharing deal, Duterte urged
Veteran Rep. Edcel Lagman urged President Duterte Friday to enforce the term-sharing agreement for the speakership that he personally brokered in July 2019.
Lagman said that since it was Duterte who made Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco to accept the gentleman’s agreement, carrying it out falls on his shoulder.
Earlier, Lagman said it is a known fact that the incumbent President always interferes in any speakership race as what happened last year between Cayetano and Velasco, both staunch supporters of the Chief Executive.
The ongoing power struggle has derailed the budget deliberations and imperiled the seasonable enactment of the General Appropriations Act for 2021 due to the unprecedented and precipitate actions of Cayetano to hold on as Speaker, said Lagman.
He pointed out that because Cayetano refuses to honor the “15-21” deal “on the pretext that the majority congressmen want him to continue serving as speaker," it has become the duty of Duterte to “unequivocally” enforce the gentleman’s pact for the speakership.
“Duterte must tell the members of the House and the people in no uncertain terms that the compromise must be respected and honored, and Cayetano must irrevocably resign and Velasco should take over as the new Speaker,” said Lagman.
He added: “The President must avoid any ambivalent language or mystical message which could be subject to differing interpretations.”
“Since the President said that he is not a lame duck, perforce, he must instruct his supermajority allies in the House to follow his clear and unambiguous solution to the impasse,” the independent opposition solon stated.
He noted that the tradition, which is flawed, calls for Malacanang to choose the next speaker and the anointed rise to the top House seat is simply confirmed by the majority.
“Moreover, the President must call soonest the Congress to a special session so that the deliberations on the enactment of the national budget could resume and assure the timely passage of the national budget for 2021.”
Section 15 of Article 6 of the Constitution authorizes the President to “call a special session at any time,” said Lagman.