Hints of looming House ‘coup’ not a blow to Duterte’s ‘clout’—Palace

MANILA, Philippines—Reports that some lawmakers are unhappy with President Rodrigo Duterte’s choice of Taguig Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano as the next House Speaker does not show the Chief Executive’s lack of authority in the lower chamber, Malacañang said Thursday.

“It’s not the reflection of the clout of the President because the President didn’t want to interfere in the first place. He didn’t want to intrude. It’s them who somehow persuaded him to come in,” Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a Palace briefing.

Panelo issued the statement after Presidential son and Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo Duterte hinted at the possibility that a Speaker aspirant may stage a coup d’état during the July 22 Congress election.

READ: Paolo Duterte says speakership race far from over, hints at looming coup

The younger Duterte told INQUIRER.net that the Speaker squabble is far from over, saying that one of the contenders for the top post, whom he did not name, is planning to reject the President’s endorsement of Cayetano.

The President earlier announced that Cayetano would share the three-year term with Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco while Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, another Speaker aspirant, would be the Majority Leader.

READ: Duterte pushes for Cayetano-Velasco term-sharing for Speaker

Panelo, who is also Duterte’s chief legal counsel, noted that the President only gave his “suggestion” because the three frontrunners for Speaker sought his advice.

“The vote on the Speaker would lie on the members of Congress. The only reason why the President gave that suggestion is because those who were vying for it went to him and sought his wise suggestion to settle the row between and among them,” he said. /je