Speaker Arroyo breaks bread with Mayor Sara Duterte

Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo greets Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte before eating lunch with their supporters. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

A week after unseating Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez as Speaker, Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo enjoyed lunch with Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte and other lawmakers.

The two women came in red and were seated beside each other during the event at a Quezon City hotel.

“Very nice and pleasant,” was how Arroyo described the lunch.

The mayor, eldest daughter of President Rodrigo Duterte, was reported to be instrumental in convincing lawmakers to back Arroyo for the speakership, though she has yet to confirm this.

Tussle with Alvarez

The mayor has tussled with Alvarez over his remarks early this year that her newly formed regional party, Hugpong ng Pagbabago, was part of the opposition.

Alvarez, the secretary general of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan, had also boasted in a speech that he could have the President impeached.

At the gathering on Monday, Arroyo thanked her colleagues in the House of Representatives for their support and asked them to continue working, according to Capiz Rep. Fredenil Castro.

Lunch guests

“Let’s buckle down to work,” Castro quoted Arroyo as telling the guests at the lunch.

He said Mayor Duterte was just invited to the event as a guest, as far as he knew.

The change in House leadership occurred a few minutes before President Duterte’s third State of the Nation Address (Sona).

The power struggle, which took place in full view of foreign dignitaries and other Sona guests, delayed the Chief Executive’s speech for about an hour and nearly caused him to walk out of the venue.