MANILA, Philippines — Buhay Rep. Lito Atienza on Sunday said the call of President Rodrigo Duterte for a special session of Congress was a “strong rebuff” against House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano.
“Malacañang has repudiated the Speaker, who is clearly drunk with power, and has become a huge embarrassment and liability to the President,” Atienza said in a statement.
“Congressman Cayetano has betrayed the President. He has also double-crossed all the House members who elected him as Speaker in July last year based on the term-sharing agreement blessed by the President no less,” he added.
Earlier, the President called for a special session of Congress from October 13 to 16 to make way for the House’s final reading of the bill that contains the country’s proposed national budget for next year.
This, after Cayetano and his allies, moved to abruptly suspend the lower chamber’s session until November 16.
The suspension of the session comes ahead of the anticipated speakership showdown between Cayetano and Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco on October 14.
Under the term-sharing agreement brokered by Duterte himself in 2019, Cayetano should only serve as Speaker in the first 15 months of the 18th Congress, or until October this year, while Velasco should succeed him and serve as Speaker for the remaining 21 months.
Atienza said Cayetano’s “highly irregular” cancellation of House sessions “had imperiled the passage of the budget bill.”
“Through all sorts of political machinations, Congressman Cayetano has shamelessly reneged on his solemn promise – made before the President – to step down as Speaker after 15 months and give way to Congressman Velasco,” Atienza added.
Cayetano had earlier welcomed the President’s call for a special session of Congress, saying he has trust on Duterte’s wisdom “on how to address issues concerning the budget.”
“[We] thank him for his continued confidence by allowing Congress to pass the General Appropriations Bill free from the specter of politicking and intrigues that we had originally sought to avoid,” the Speaker added.