Awkward, low, ugly, and disgraceful.
This was how Senator Panfilo Lacson described the power grab at the House of Representatives that marred President Rodrigo Duterte’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Monday.
“The mace was in a maze at the Batasan yesterday. It didn’t know whose authority to symbolize at the opening of the 3rd regular session of the 17th Congress,” Lacson wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.
“It was an awkward, low, ugly and disgraceful sight for all to see,” he added.
For more than an hour on Monday, Duterte’s Sona was delayed when former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo suddenly took her oath as the new Speaker of the House of Representatives.
READ: With House sound system dead, Arroyo takes oath as new Speaker
Duterte later went on with his Sona with Davao Del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez still acting as Speaker of the House.
But after the Sona, the House convened again and officially elected Arroyo as the new Speaker.
READ: Backed by 184 lawmakers, Gloria Arroyo takes oath as Speaker
/kga