Abante steps down as House minority leader, to join majority bloc

MANILA, Philippines — Minority Leader Bienvenido Abante Jr. announced Friday his decision to step down from his post and join the majority bloc in the House of Representatives.

Abante made his decision known during the last day of the House’s special session as he closed his turno en contra speech on the proposed national budget for 2021. He served as House minority leader for 15 months.

“Mr. Speaker, before I wrap up let me reiterate that I have full trust in the new leadership in its pursuit of a legislative agenda that is not only pro-people, but more importantly, responsive to the need to provide effective and sufficient interventions to control the COVID pandemic,” Abante said.

“And there is no better symbol of this trust than an expression of intent to join the Majority so I could be more proactive in providing urgently-needed legislation and Congressional oversight. On the instance that the Majority Leader favorably acts on this prayer, may I say, ako po ngayon ay sasama  sa majority,” he added.

Abante expressed his trust that his colleagues in the minority bloc will “judiciously choose their next leader.”

“This, my friends, is a difficult decision for this representation as I have come to think of the Minority Bloc as my extended family here in the House. Marami po ang ating pinagdaanan, and I will always cherish the time we worked together,” Abante said.

“Tulad ng lagi kong sinabi, magkaiba man ang partido natin, o ang paniniwala natin, o ang idelohiya natin, there are more things that unite us, there are more advocacies we share, and there will always be one thing that will always bind us together: our desire to serve our people,” he added.

Abante announced he is stepping down from his post a day after expressing willingness to give his post to former Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano should the latter want his post.

In an interview with reporters on Thursday, Abante was asked about the possibility of Cayetano joining the minority bloc following the election of Speaker Lord Alan Velasco at the helm of the lower chamber.

“Of course, we welcome him on that and sa akin, if he is willing to get the minority leader position, I would be very glad to give that to him,” Abante said.

But Abante does not believe that Cayetano would want his post, especially following his stint as the Speaker of the House.

“If he wants to be the minority leader, we’ll talk about it. Pero alam mo palagay ko, I don’t think he will get that. From being the Speaker of the House, he would like to be the minority [leader]. I have not yet heard any statement concerning that actually,” he added. [ac]