THE House of Representatives (HOR) capped a tumultuous day that should have been a smooth opening for its third and last regular session, by voting former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as the new Speaker. She replaced Pantaleon Alvarez who was earlier “voted out” in a “rump” session but was allowed to remain in his post while President Duterte delivered his third State of the Nation Address (Sona).
In a voting that took place despite electricity and microphones being cut off and the House mace in “hiding,” 184 House members voted, with 12 abstentions, to reconfirm the vote they made earlier in the day to install Arroyo as the Speaker. This, after Nueva Ecija Rep. Magnolia Antonino declared the position of Alvarez as vacant, prompting Deputy Speaker and Batangas Rep. Raneo Abu to nominate Arroyo for the speakership.
Hours before this second voting, Arroyo ascended the rostrum and also took her oath. In front of 3,000 guests including foreign dignitaries and high-ranking officials, the Pampanga representative took her oath as the new speaker while the sound system at the House was cut off. She was seen on national television shouting out appeals to her colleagues on the floor.
Arroyo took her oath replacing Davao Del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez before Kabuhayan party-list Rep. Dennis Laogan at 3:53 pm, or just a few minutes before Duterte was scheduled to deliver his State of the Nation Address. He was only able to do so at 5:21 p.m, after being made to wait over an hour in a holding room, with Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Alvarez.
At least 186 lawmakers informally installed Arroyo as the new Speaker through a manifesto after Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles called a roll.
Arroyo was supported by majority of lawmakers from different political parties that included the Nacionalista Party (NP), Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), National Unity Party (NUP), and members of President Duterte’s Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban).
But it was still unclear if Arroyo will be challenged by Alvarez as the process of installing happened while the session was adjourned.
However, it was Alvarez who was recognized by President Duterte as speaker of the lower chamber during his Sona.
House rules
Under House Rule 3, Section 13, except for the position of Speaker, any position may be declared vacant by a majority vote of the members present, there being a quorum. The position of Speaker may only be declared vacant through nominal voting by a majority vote of all the members.
Also, House Rule 3, Section 11, said whenever there is a vacancy, the Speaker shall be elected by a majority vote of all the members.
House Minority Floor Leader and Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez and House Deputy Minority Leader and Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza were among the first lawmakers who signed the manifesto.
According to Atienza, majority of the lawmakers wanted to change the current leadership of the lower chamber and have Arroyo replace Alvarez as the latter “was acting like he had kingdom… and he acts as if he is Congress.”
Many congressmen also resented the way Alvarez made it look like majority of them supported his push for “no elections” in 2019, ostensibly to afford lawmakers more time to deliberate on Charter changes. Atienza said in a CNN interview.
However, Kabataan Rep. Sarah Elago slammed the move and said “it could only be with the backing of Duterte that former President, now legislator Gloria Macapagal Arroyo went as far as bending the House rules and taking brazen steps to shamelessly power-grab [the] Speakership.”
“In rotten, traditional politics, it is enraging how payback time prevails at the expense of public interest. The Duterte administration has started to rehabilitate the Marcoses. Now, it wants to put Arroyo back in power, way ahead of the warring factions of the ruling class,” Elago said.
Anakpawis Rep. Ariel Casilao said the “rehabilitation” and “return to power” of Arroyo is a clear political accommodation of the Duterte administration, amid her notorious record against human rights, and graft and corruption.
The tension carried on until the President had left Batasang Pambansa. Lawmakers continued with an informal session with 238 members in attendance backing Arroyo’s speakership.
As of press time, it was still uncertain if Arroyo’s takeover of the house leadership is valid.
‘Casualty’
Alvarez opened the third regular session of the 17th Congress with a straight face, tempered tone, his voice conveying uncertainty and hesitation. He listed the accomplishments made by the House under his leadership—passage of the tax reform, free tertiary education and ease of doing business laws, among others.
He also spoke of pending measures Duterte want enacted, including the security of tenure bill and the shift to a federal system. After delivering his remarks, Alvarez suspended the session to inform Malacanang that the two chambers are now ready for his Sona.
The session never resumed, and was adjourned first thing in the afternoon, leaving the bicameral report on the Bangsamoro Organic Law (BOL) unratified.
What happened next was unexplainable. Around 3:30 in the afternoon, minutes before the President was scheduled to address the nation, Deputy Speaker Rolando G. Andaya Jr. of the First District of Camarines Sur took the microphone and claimed the session was adjourned in spite of his objection.
However, when Duterte landed in Batasang Pambansa, he was seen entering the august halls with Alvarez on his side.
One hour and a half delayed, the President delivered his SONA with Sotto and Alvarez as his left and right hand in Congress. Arroyo’s rise to the House leadership was denied, and Alvarez remained as chief of the lower chamber.
Confusion in the legislature resulted in a standoff between two of the Chief Executive’s men, and the casualty was the prospect for peace in Mindanao—yet again, the BOL was delayed and was not ratified by the House for the President’s approval.
The BOL is the final peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, and was expected to be signed by Duterte on Monday. It is aimed at creating the Bangsamoro in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao—a region that will be given with more power and freedom to carry out legislative and fiscal actions.
And as the Chief Executive gave his constituents a briefer on the country’s condition, thousands of protestors trooped to Commonwealth Avenue to fulfill an annual tradition of presenting their so-called counter-Sona.
Political groups from the center to the extreme left joined forces to oppose the President’s centerpiece programs, including the war on drugs, charter change, tax reform, among others. They also decried the suspension of the peace talks with the National Democratic Front, the proliferation of fake news, and misogynistic remarks made by Duterte.
The relationship between the President and the Left got fractured last year. Differences on dozens of policies did the injury to the ties once founded on trust and optimism.
Now, it is severely wounded, without any sign of recovery and healing. The Left, for its part, vowed to fight the government relentlessly, especially now that it is moving to transition the country to a federal system.
It is under this storm that the Chief Executive talked of the state of the nation. He weathered yesterday’s storm; the challenge now lies in the next days.