House of Representatives. KARL NORMAN ALONZO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
Deputy Speaker Rolando Andaya said the majority bloc would keep its distance in the raging feud over who should lead the minority in the House of Representatives.
“Hindi puwedeng makialam ‘yung miyembro ng majority kung paano sila boboto at sino ‘yung mga kikilalanin nilang kandidato. As much as possible, didistansiya kami,” he said in a dzBB interview on Sunday.
“Siguro, kung talagang aabot sa punto na kailangang magdesisyon, siguro ‘yung guidelines lang kung paano ang pagpili nila. ‘Yung aktwal na pagpili ng pinuno, hindi kami puwede. Sila lang ang puwedeng magresolba,” he added.
Following the election of former-president-and-now-Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as Speaker last Monday, several groups have vied to become the minority bloc of the Congress.
Members of the Liberal Party have repeatedly called themselves as the “duly constituted” minority bloc in the House, saying that they did not vote for Arroyo’s speakership, and chose Marikina City Rep. Miro Quimbo as their leader.
House rules mandate that those who did not vote for the winning candidate for Speaker automatically becomes part of the minority.
Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez, however, insists that he should stay as leader of the minority bloc until the end of the 17th Congress.
Suarez, who was reportedly among the 184 lawmakers who voted for Arroyo, said he would ask Arroyo to retain the current composition of the minority bloc. /cbb