Presumptive President-elect Rodrigo Duterte with former Senate President Manny Villar, wife Sen. Cynthia Villar, son Rep. Mark Villar and brother Jojo Villar in Davao City as the Villars’ Nacionalista Party joins PDP-Laban in the so-called Coalition of Change. Also in photo are PDP-Laban president Sen. Koko Pimentel, Duterte’s running mate Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, former Transportation Secretary Pantaleon Alvarez, former Manila International Airport Authority chief Alfonso Cusi and chief aide Bong Go. MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
The Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrat (Lakas-CMD) and the National Unity Party (NUP) on Monday signed a coalition agreement to jointly support the incoming administration of presumptive President-elect Rodrigo Duterte.
In a press conference, Lakas-CMD president Martin Romualdez said the coalition agreement sought to further strengthen the ties of both parties considering their shared history.
Allies of former President and reelected Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo, who is under hospital detention while facing charges for plunder over a charity funds mess, dominated Congress during her term through the coalition of her party Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi) and the Lakas-CMD of former President Fidel Ramos.
Lakas-CMD and Kampi merged in 2008, but the merger was short-lived after some members of Lakas and Kampi bolted out and established themselves as the NUP in the 15th Congress.
Romualdez said both parties would also support the speakership bid of incoming Davao Del Norte Rep. Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez, Duterte’s pick to lead the House of Representatives as Speaker.
“On behalf of the Kampi, we concur with the coalition agreement… This is in furtherance of the legislative agenda of President Duterte and under the leadership of Speaker Alvarez here in the House,” said Romualdez, outgoing Leyte representative who lost his bid for the Senate in the May 9 polls.
“Lakas and NUP have had those ties. We were very close in 2010; we decoupled. We are uniting again (for the) legislative agenda of President Duterte,” he added.
Reginald Velasco, secretary general of the NUP, said the party will also sign a separate coalition agreement with Duterte’s Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), which has only three members (including Alvarez) in the incoming 17th Congress.
Lakas earlier signed a coalition agreement with PDP-Laban.
Velasco said both parties signed the coalition agreement to pursue the “common legislative agenda (of) President-elect Rodrigo Duterte and incoming Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.”
Velasco said the party expects to have 40 to 50 representatives under the NUP in the 17th Congress.
Romualdez said Lakas and Duterte share a common legislative platform, such as anti-corruption and anti-drug abuse.
Romualdez even said Arroyo may play a bigger role in the incoming 17th Congress, if the presumptive President-elect supports the move to grant Arroyo bail from hospital detention.
Arroyo is detained at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center as she stands trial for plunder for the alleged use for personal gain of at least P366 million in intelligence funds of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) from 2008 to 2010.
Duterte has also supported house arrest for Arroyo.
READ: Duterte: If elected, I will release Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
“If she is given liberty to post bail… and the case is set aside, I don’t see why… She won, she’s been proclaimed, I don’t see why she can’t play a large role,” Romualdez said.
“If that happens, I’m sure the former President would be happy. Again we’re pursuing all of these independent of whatever happens in the future. Our main priority here is to support the President’s legislative agenda and support Speaker Bebot Alvarez,” he added.
According to the coalition agreement, both parties “are willing to enter into a coalition in the House of Representatives… to help each other in the pursuit of their advocacy and party interests.”
“Now, therefore, both parties agree to enter into a coalition with the end objective of forging a common legislative agenda,” the agreement read.
Asked if the coalition agreements with PDP-Laban would mean Duterte’s party stand to be the next ruling party, Velasco said it is a historical trend that lawmakers shift their alliances to the administration party.
He said this was the experience in 2010, when the Liberal Party candidate and now outgoing Presidet Benigno Aquino III won and gained around 120 members in the Liberal Party out of only 40 Liberal members.
Velasco said Lakas Kampi had 141 members under the Arroyo administration before Lakas downsized to independent minority in the Aquino government.
“Usually, the term ruling party is the party of the incumbent President, regardless of the number. If you recall in 2010, there were only 40, 41 Liberal Party congressmen, and then Lakas Kampi had 141. But later on, you know what happened. A lot of our congressmen from Lakas Kampi decided to join the Liberal Party. So at the present Congress, there are about 120 Liberal Party congressmen,” Velasco said.
“I can only cite the historical tradition,” he added.
While there are only three PDP-Laban members in the incoming 17th Congress, Duterte’s party has signed coalition agreements with major political parties: the Nationalist People’s Coalition, the country’s second biggest political party next to the Liberal Party with 44 incoming representatives; the Nacionalista Party; the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats; the party-list bloc; and the Visayas bloc.
With 180 lawmakers across party lines to his side, Alvarez is bent on wresting the speakership from current Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. whose party, the Liberal Party, has also signed a manifest of support for Duterte and Alvarez for the administration party to remain part of the majority.
READ: LP backs Alvarez’s Speaker bid
Belmonte will be leading the minority with some Liberals who decided to stick with the outgoing Speaker.
The report said at least 80 Liberals, or 70 percent of its total 116 members, would align themselves with Duterte’s Coalition for Change. JE/rga/AC
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