Some Lakas solons to stick with House majority for choice committee seats

Quezon Representative Danilo Suarez. INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Not all members of the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) are expected to join the minority in the House of Representatives in the next Congress, even if the party’s new president is eyeing the minority leadership.

Quezon Representative Danilo Suarez, the current minority leader and a vice chairman of Lakas-CMD, said some members of the party would join or remain with the Liberal Party-led majority in the 16th Congress for various reasons, including keeping choice positions in important committees.

Suarez, in a phone interview, said it would be up to party members whether to join the majority or the minority, which new Lakas-CMD president and Leyte Representative Ferdinand Martin Romualdez may head.

Romualdez is expected to run for Speaker against the LP candidate. Should Romualdez come second in the race, which Suarez said was likely, he would be the minority leader.

Suarez said some Lakas-CMD members had signified their intention to join the majority, a decision the party would not hold against them.

“There’s nothing we can do about it. That’s pragmatic politics… Some of them want to keep important positions [in committees] because that way, you can take care of your district better,” he said.

Others are looking ahead to 2016 and want to make sure they get good projects to boost their political chances, according to Suarez.

Lakas-CMD used to be the ruling party when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was in office.