After surviving an ambush in Cagayan, Secretary Manuel Mamba on Tuesday motored back to Manila, stumped why Cagayan Gov. Alvaro Antonio wasn’t arrested after allegedly opening fire at their convoy with an AK-47.
President Benigno Aquino III on Monday aired a fresh call to lawmakers during a crucial caucus on the reproductive health bill in Malacañang: Vote on it according to your conscience, but do it soon.
This Palace official suspects one reason for the lack of quorum in the House of Representatives during deliberations on the reproductive health (RH) bill: Reelectionist lawmakers fear provoking their parish priests.
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile in a privilege speech Monday challenged Presidential Legislative Liaison Office Secretary Manuel Mamba to substantiate his allegation that tobacco companies have been bribing senators for many years to prevent the passing of a sin tax measure.
The glaring absence of a Cabinet secretary in the hearing of his department’s 2013 budget raised suspicion that he was avoiding Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile with whom he has a longstanding feud in Cagayan province.
A Malacañang official said the President’s allies in the House should not back down. “They should not be dissuaded,” said Manuel Mamba, chief of the Presidential Legislative Liaison Office, the go-between the Palace and Congress. “In fact, if they do have the political will, then they should go ahead with it,” he said, referring to next Tuesday’s vote.
An increase in the government’s share in the billions of pesos in revenues from mining and the passage of the sin tax bill are among the laws President Aquino will ask Congress to pass despite fast-approaching midterm elections.
