Rep. Sharon Garin says she and PH are ‘casualties of war’ in speakership row

MANILA, Philippines — AAMBIS-OWA Partylist Rep. Sharon Garin said Wednesday that she and the country are casualties of the speakership dispute now heating up at the House of Representatives.

Garin said this a day after the House approved on second reading the House Bill No. 7727 or the proposed 2021 General Appropriations Bill after Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano himself made the motion to terminate both the period of debates and period of amendments for the measure. The lower chamber also suspended the session until November 16.

Also on Tuesday, Garin was removed as chairperson of the House committee on economic affairs amid the wrangling over the speakership post between Cayetano and Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco. Garin is an ally of Velasco.

“It was expected. I am one of the casualties of war because of the fight between Velasco and Speaker Cayetano, and unfortunately, medyo casualty din ang bayan natin sa away na ito (the country is also a casualty of this dispute). But it’s how it is. Politics is very brutal,” she said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel.

Garin noted that the country is currently suffering from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and needs a 2021 budget that is “responsive” to the pressing health and economic crisis.

She said that not allowing the public to see members of the House participating in budget debates would raise doubts on the “responsiveness” of the proposed budget to the pandemic.

“Kasalanan sa bayan talaga ito (This is a sin to the country), we need to think about our country, and not sacrifice the country because you want to stay on or we want to replace. Hindi dapat ‘yan gawin ni (It should not be done by) Lord Velasco nor Speaker Cayetano. We have to think first of our country, not focus on the fight or bring the fight to the public level,” she added.

“This is not just about finishing the budget, it is about having a responsive budget, and we don’t know because we didn’t finish the debates. Kasalanan namin ‘yan sa bayan (It is our sin to the country) to cut this kind of debate which is so significant that will affect the lives and health of Filipino people and for that I apologize to the Filipino people,” she also said.

Aside from Garin, Quezon 4th District Rep. Helen Tan was also stripped of her chairmanship of the committee on health while Valenzuela City 2nd District Rep. Eric Martinez was removed as chairperson of the committee on youth and development.

Before this recent shakeup of committee chairmanships at the lower chamber, 1-PACMAN Rep. Mikee Romero, a reported ally of Velasco, was also removed as deputy speaker. He was replaced by Capiz 2nd District Rep. Fredenil Castro, an ally of Cayetano.

Garin said replacing Velasco, who serves as president of the party-list bloc at the House of Representatives, with a congressman not representing a party-list is an “affront” to their coalition.

“Me, I was replaced by a non-party-list [representative] also. So is that like we are abandoning already the due proportion and fairness that we have traditionally done in the House? That I cannot comprehend,” said Garin.

“I have been protective of fair and equitable treatment of the party-list representatives in Congress and this kind of replacement is, for me, unfair and inequitable,” she added.

/MUF