Alvarez vows to be fair to minority solons

Incoming Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

Presumptive Speaker Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez on Tuesday vowed to remain fair to the “bite-size” minority in the 17th Congress which is expected to be dominated by President-elect Rodrigo Duterte’s “super majority” in the House of Representatives.

During the Meet Inquirer Multimedia Forum, Alvarez said as Duterte’s pick for Speaker, he vowed to give not just the majority but even the minority solons a fair share of the pie in terms of the budget and even committee chairpersonships.

Alvarez said he will be fair to the minority solons, who are the lawmakers who did not elect him as Speaker.

Lawmakers from the majority are those who voted for the winning Speaker.

“Yung minority, they’ll still get their fair share kasi lahat naman ng mga congressman, pare-pareho yan eh, kung ano yung share mo, makukuha mo yun kahit nasa minority ka (The minority will still get their fair share because all congressmen are the same, you will get whatever your share is even if you belong to the minority),” Alvarez said.

“To be fair ha. I want to be fair. Now, if we disagree on some issues, that is what democracy is for,” he added.

Asked about the dangers of a “super majority” in Congress making the legislative body a virtual rubber stamp of the President even on unpopular bills, Alvarez said the majority and minority bloc may still argue over issues and go through the democratic process.

“We can dissent on the issues but at the end of the day, it’s still the majority that prevails,” Alvarez said.

Although he earlier said he would reduce the minority to a “bite size” number of 20, Alvarez said a healthy opposition is crucial to democracy.

He also said Duterte’s super majority in Congress does not mean it would be a virtual dictatorship under the new administration.

Alvarez boasted of securing a super majority in Congress. His allies said Alvarez has gained the support of 260 of the 290-member House of Representatives to clinch the Speaker post.

READ: Alvarez cements ‘super majority’ in Congress

From just three members in the incoming 17th Congress, Duterte’s Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) has grown to a potent force in Congress, with various coalition partners from major political parties such as the Nationalist People’s Coalition, the Nacionalista Party, the party-list bloc, the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats and the Liberal Party.

READ: Belmonte, others to join House coalition

Duterte has also gained the support of the Visayas and the Northern blocs of lawmakers in the House of Representatives. Alvarez said he is also in talks with the militant Makabayan bloc for them to join the majority coalition.

Duterte is seeking clout in Congress in his bid to fast track the passage of his legislative agenda, among others the reinstatement of the death penalty for heinous crimes (which was abolished in 2006 under the Arroyo administration) as well as a constitutional amendment to change the country’s system of governance to a federal state in his bid to decentralize Metro Manila’s powers to the provinces. RAM/rga

READ: From 3 to 300, PDP-Laban forms ‘supermajority’ in House