Velasco hit for denying term deal
SPEAKER hopeful and Taguig congressman- elect Alan Peter Cayetano slammed rival Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco for denying their term- sharing deal for the position of the top House post.
Cayetano also said Velasco needed to clear things out for insinuating that President Rodrigo Duterte was a “liar” after the Chief Executive admitted that such proposal had been initially considered for the two bets in the first place
“Maybe [ Velasco] did not hear the recent interview of the President. [ Velasco] released a statement that there’s no such thing as term- sharing. So, that means, how can we serve the President, our people, even our fellow congressmen… if we can afford to lie just like that?” Cayetano said in a radio interview in English and Filipino on Friday evening.
“I don’t think anyone of us [ has] a right to call the President a liar. The President himself confirmed that there was a term- sharing deal and then [ Velasco] will say that there’s no such term- sharing. I think [ Velasco] needs to clear things out,” he added.
Cayetano was referring to a recent pronouncement of Duterte that he had given the go- signal for the two bets to share tenure, with Cayetano sitting in the first half and Velasco in the second half of the term as a “winwin” solution to the heated race.
With the numbers favoring him, however, Velasco had backed out of the proposal.
House members from various blocs and even from different affiliations all had the same sentiment that sharing the speakership would only be “counterproductive.”
“If [ Velasco] does not want a termsharing, why didn’t he just simply say ‘ I don’t follow the President’? Why would he want to make it look as if I’m the liar here… when I’m just telling the truth? The President himself said that he will approve term- sharing but Velasco backed out,” according to Cayetano.
The Taguig lawmaker previously said he was “deeply disappointed” with Velasco and his wife Rowena, as they were the ones who pitched the term- sharing idea in the first place.
Velasco had been gaining ground after the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino- Lakas ng Bayan ( PDP- Laban) picked him as its official contender over aspirants Pampanga Rep. Aurelio Gonzales and Davao del Norte Pantaleon Alvarez.
He also reportedly secured 200 votes from congressmen in a pledge of commitment.
Even Leyte congressman- elect Martin Romualdez of Lakas- Christian Muslim Democrats is gaining support from a good number of House members, with 178 votes based on accounts of congressmen supporting him.
Cayetano of the Nacionalista Party only has 65 votes so far, part of which were from the National Unity Party.
Duterte serves as current chairman of the PDP- Laban, which has 84 members in the House.
Cayetano was his losing running mate in the 2016 elections.
The President had refused to name his personal choice for speaker among his “friends,” and had instead left to outgoing Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo the task of choosing her successor in the 18th Congress.