The Makabayan bloc thanked erstwhile House Minority Leader Bienvenido Abante Jr. for guiding them during his 15-month stint in the minority and said they wouldn't shy away from a frank debate with him down the road.
"Kami ay nagpapasalamat na sa loob ng 15 buwan ay nagabayang mabuti ni Cong. Benny Abante ang minorya sa mga mahahalagang usapin (We are thankful that in the last 15 months, Cong. Benny Abante was able to guide the minority on important issues)," Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate said in a virtual press conference.
"While there were issues where we agreed to disagree, may mahahalagang issues naman na kami ay magkakasama (there were important issues wherein we were side by side)," Zarate said.
The six-member Makabayan is part of the broader minority bloc, which, as of Monday, is composed of 22 congressmen.
Abante, Manila sixth district representative, announced his desire to join the majority bloc Friday shortly before the passage of the proposed P4.506-trillion national budget for 2021 on third and final reading.
"We wish our colleague, ang aming tatay sa (our father in the) minority bloc in the past 15 months, good luck sa kanyang pagsama sa mayorya at (good luck in joining the majority). We expect to interpellate him in the coming months sa pagdepensya niya sa mayorya sa iba’t-ibang issue (in his defense of the majority on various issues)," said Zarate, the most senior of the Makabayan stalwarts.
"We expect a very candid…not brutal, but frank exchange of ideas with Cong. Benny Abante in representation of the majority," he added.
Zarate described the Manila solon as someone who stood on his principles during his tenure as head of the minority.
Compared to the more moderate members of the minority, the militant Makabayan solons are openly critical of the Duterte administration. This didn't prevent Abante from backing them up on certain occasions when his leadership called for it.
One such occasion where Abante took up the cudgels for Makabayan was when he called out Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Undersecretary Lorraine Badoy for tagging the militant solons as terrorists. He did so during the plenary debates on the budget and went as far as to ask for Badoy's resignation.
"Naging kabahagi rin siya sa aming active engagement doon sa budget ng PCOO. At ‘yun po ay tatanawin naming malaking utang ng loob (He was with us during our active engagement on the PCOO budget. For that we are indebted to him)," Zarate said.
He said the remaining minority members will reconvene soon to elect Abante's replacement.