Act Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio slammed Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez for saying that he intends to remain as House Minority Leader despite having voted for newly elected Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Suarez, who served as Minority Leader during the term of former Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, has insisted that despite the change in the House leadership, he would be staying at his post until the end of the 17th Congress.
READ: House squabble shifts to minority leader position
Tinio has argued that Suarez is now technically part of the majority since he was one of the 184 representatives who voted in favor of Arroyo.
“Magkakaroon ng katawa-tawang sitwasyon na yung minority leader ay yung taga-suporta at aminadong nagkampanya pa nga kay GMA [Gloria Macapagal Arroyo],” Tinio said.
(This will turn out to be a laughable situation where the minority leader is a supporter of GMA.)
According to Tinio, under the present rules, those who have voted for the new Speaker automatically become part of the House majority. The same rules also state that the minority leader should come from those representatives who did not vote for the successful contender.
“Kaya medyo kataka-taka na nagki-claim siya ngayon na kahit bumoto siya sa majority, ay siya pa rin ang minority leader,” Tinio said.
(It’s puzzling that he is now claiming that even though he voted for the majority, he is still the minority leader.)
Tinio added that the posts of the majority and minority leaders under Arroyo’s leadership have become blurred.
He also stressed the need for a “genuine” minority at the House of Representatives to have democracy. /muf