MANILA, Philippines — There is no plan to oust House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, a lawmaker assured Wednesday.
Cayetano earlier claimed that critics are using the franchise renewal of media giant ABS-CBN to unseat him as Speaker.
But the claim was dismissed by Cebu City 1st District Representative Raul del Mar as “entirely false.”
“That’s the first time I heard about this. There is no coup to unseat the Speaker. Everybody knows that there is an agreement and it’s being respected,” Del Mar said in an interview over ABS-CBN News Channel.
The “agreement” that Del Mar was referring to is the term-sharing deal between Cayetano and Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco.
Cayetano will serve as Speaker for 15 months, after which he would yield the Speakership to Velasco. Cayetano is set to step down from his post in October.
The fate of the ABS-CBN is in limbo as Congress is yet to tackle the renewal of its franchise, which is set to expire this March.
Eleven bills seeking to renew the media giant’s franchise are languishing in the committee level at the House of Representatives.
Del Mar earlier filed House Joint Resolution No. 28 which seeks to extend the franchise of ABS-CBN Corporation until the end of the 18th Congress in June 2022.
READ: Solon files joint resolution extending ABS-CBN franchise
He said that the resolution is enough for the ABS-CBN to keep operating while Congress deliberates on its franchise.