Quimbo presses Suarez to give up minority post

Marikina Rep. Romero Quimbo FILE PHOTO

Make the House minority the opposition again.

Marikina City Rep. Romero Quimbo issued this call on Sunday as he insisted on being the rightful House minority leader and urged Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez to let go of the seat.

Suarez led the charge in installing Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, a former President of the Philippines, as Speaker in a messy leadership row that took the wind out of President Duterte’s State of the Nation Address on July 23.

On Saturday, news reports quoted Suarez as saying only Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez was removed and the other leadership positions remained “status quo.”

Quimbo, however, insisted that his Wednesday letter to Arroyo — stating that 12 members of the Liberal Party elected him minority leader — should already make his role official.

“The letter was not to seek approval, but simply to inform the head of the institution, which is the Speaker. As far as we are concerned, we have done what have to do,” he said in a radio interview.

Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, one of Quimbo’s 12 voters, said Suarez’s group had “ousted themselves from the minority when they vigorously campaigned and voted” for Arroyo.

‘Automatic’ shift

Even if only the Speaker was changed, Lagman pointed out that the composition of the House majority and minority blocs would “automatically” shift along the lines of political support for the chamber’s leader.

“The change in the speakership did not happen in an isolated vacuum. It was effected through the mobilization of partisan forces, severance of alliances and obliteration of loyalties,” he said in a statement on Sunday.

For Quimbo, restoring the traditional role of the House minority bloc — which was shut off to opposition lawmakers in 2016 after Suarez assumed the position—would be “a great opportunity” for Arroyo to “start right.”

“This is her chance to lead the right way. She should show what kind of House we should have because that was the reason Speaker Alvarez was replaced,” he said.

Alvarez ouster

Quimbo stressed that Alvarez was ousted over grievances relating to “the loss of the minority, the loss of dissent, the restriction and oppression against those who disagree with him.”

Deputy Speaker Rolando Andaya Jr. said the House majority could not intervene in the selection of the minority leader.

“The members of the majority cannot interfere with how [the minority legislators] will vote and whom they will recognize as candidates. As much as possible, we will distance ourselves,” Andaya said in a radio interview on Sunday.

Opposition lawmakers contend that the minority leader position is traditionally taken by the runner-up in the election of the House Speaker.

In July 2016, Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat Jr. (now one of Quimbo’s voters) placed second behind Alvarez, while Suarez voted for Alvarez and placed third.

But the then Alvarez-led majority changed the rules, paving the way for a separate election that was won by Suarez.

When Arroyo assumed the speakership last week, 14 of the 18 members of the Suarez bloc voted in her favor, according to the Inquirer count. —Vince F. Nonato