Infighting and the Sona

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte’s third State of the Nation Address (Sona) yesterday was less about the speech and more about the in-fighting within his camp.

In the House of Representatives, presidential daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte flexed her muscle and succeeded. Despite the maneuvering by a faction of the House membership, former President and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo took over the helm of the lower chamber in a controversial manner over Pantaleon Alvarez.

The young Duterte had engaged Alvarez in an exchange of words a few months ago, something that Sara said stemmed from the then House speaker identifying her as being with the opposition. The Davao City mayor had formed Hugpong Pagbabago that challenged the ascendancy of Alvarez in the Davao area.

In the Senate, the senators had threatened to walk out if the House introduces a resolution transforming Congress into a Constituent Assembly and moving ahead with charter change without their (the senators’) concurrence. That may not happen considering what transpired in the lower chamber.

Alvarez was the main proponent of the goingahead-without-the-Senate idea for cha-cha.

Alvarez actually maneuvered to hold on to the speakership, with his camp adjourning the session early on to prevent the ouster move and in the process failing to ratify the proposed Bangsamoro Organic Law that the President was supposed to sign during his Sona.

But when the House reconvened in the early afternoon, pro-ouster lawmakers passed around a manifesto calling for Alvarez’s removal as speaker. This time around, Deputy Speaker Rolando Andaya was at the forefront but his microphone was cut off when he spoke at the plenary.

The maneuvering continued, however, even without the sound system and the mace, the symbol of the House’s legislative authority. Arroyo ended up taking her oath as speaker.

Alvarez may challenge Arroyo’s election as House speaker or he may not. With Arroyo, the House may reach an agreement with the Senate on how the cha-cha should be done in Congress or it may not. What now appears, however, is that the administration camp has gone flaky going into the president’s third year in office.— Sunnex