No ‘no-el’ scenario under Speaker Arroyo — lawmaker

Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. INQUIRER file photo / EARVIN PERIAS

Deputy Speaker and Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya said that Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo opposed any postponement of the 2019 elections, which her predecessor Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez had been pushing.

“Nagbigay na po ng instruction ‘yung ating bagong Speaker [Arroyo] na magkakaroon (election)… kumabaga there will be no ‘no-el’ scenario,” Andaya said in an interview over DZIQ Radyo Inquirer on Sunday.

(Our new Speaker has already given instructions that there will be an election… In other words, there will be no ‘no-el’ scenario.)

Earlier, the former president herself said that she won’t push for the postponement of the polls to give way to the amendment of the Constitution for a shift to federalism.

“No. Definitely, I am not supporting term extension,” she said.

Andaya also expressed hope that the second package of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion or TRAIN 2 will prosper under Arroyo despite facing a blockade in the Senate.

“Pag-uusapan na rin ‘yung TRAIN 2 na tinatawag na. Alam naman natin na walang senador na gustong magsponsor; siguro naman sa experience ni bagong Speaker bilang presidente at ekonimista, maipapaliwag niya sa buong kapulungan yung mga benepisyo nito (TRAIN 2),” he said.

(TRAIN 2 will also be discussed. We know that no senator wants to sponsor it; maybe through the Speaker’s experience as a president and an economist, she can clearly explain to the chamber the benfits of TRAIN 2.) /je