De Lima likens House speakership row to mafia
MANILA, Philippines—Senator Leila de Lima described the meeting to squash the squabble between Congressmen Alan Peter Cayetano and Lord Allan Velasco as a conversation between members of the mafia with their boss President Rodrigo Duterte mediating.
In a dispatch coursed through Camp Crame, de Lima said that Duterte is the Godfather who will fix the mess his members got into.
“Ganito mag-away ang mga mafia. Pupunta sa Godfather para ayusin ang gulo nila,” said de Lima Wednesday.
(This is how the mafia fights. They’ll go meet with the Godfather to fix their mess.)
Cayetano and Velasco have been bickering on who should be the Speaker of the House after Duterte brokered a “gentleman’s agreement” between the two congressmen for term sharing.
In Duterte’s promise, Cayetano will hold the Speakership for the 15th months of the 18th Congress or until this October while Velasco would take over for the next 21 months.
Cayetano was Duterte’s running mate in the 2016 National Elections.
“Hindi Mafia ang turing dapat sa Kongreso. Hindi dapat ginagawang Speaker ang mga tuta ng Pangulo. Para na ring si Duterte ang ginawang Speaker kung ganito rin lang ang nangyayari sa House,” said de Lima. “Puro tuta na lang ni Duterte ang mga namumuno sa dapat ay isang hiwalay at independyenteng sangay ng gobyerno.”
(The Congress should never be treated as a mafia. The President’s cronies should never be the Speaker. It’s like Duterte was put as the Speaker if this is what’s happening in the House. Duterte’s lackeys have now held leadership positions in what should’ve been separate and independent branches of the government.)
De Lima’s statements are in relation to the independent and co-equal nature of the three branches of the government—Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary.
Velasco officially became the Speaker of the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
