Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Wednesday said he is determined to effect his policy to purge allies who did not vote for the passage of the Palace-backed death penalty bill.
“Policy is policy,” Alvarez told reporters, saying the House in plenary session would soon declare positions vacant for the House leaders they wish to replace. House deputy speaker and Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is one of those in danger of losing post.
“[House Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas] and I will talk about changing the chairmanship of the committee and the deputy speakers who voted against the death penalty,” Alvarez said.
A lawmaker who refused to be named said that Alvarez appeared to have a hard time implementing the policy to remove some House leaders of their posts after his key allies in the super majority coalition asked him “not to rock the boat.”
“We had a meeting last night [Tuesday] immediately after the voting and we politely asked the Speaker to set aside the planned revamp because we will only create unnecessary enemies. We should not rock the boat,” the House official said.
The House in Tuesday night approved on third and final reading House Bill 4727 with a 217-54 vote and one abstention.
“Former President Arroyo is still an influential leader who has direct access to President Duterte,” the source added.
Fariñas confirmed that he had talked with Alvarez, who is the secretary general of the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), even as he advised the Speaker not to rush the revamp.
“No big items today (Wednesday session). No replacements in the leadership positions will happen, yet. I made a plea to the Speaker to allow me to handle the matter, which he has kindly granted while saying only because I trust your judgment,” Fariñas said.
The source said majority of the party members from the supermajority coalition like the Nacionalista Party, Nationalist People’s Coalition, Liberal Party, National Unity Party, Party- List Coalition and others “have delivered significant votes” to support the measure.
“In fact, 70 to 80 percent of the total membership of the parties within the supermajority delivered a significant support for the bill’s passage. We don’t see any reason to be harsh to our allies who failed to toe the line because we are definitely creating enemies,” the House leader said.
Aside from Arroyo, other House leaders who voted against the death penalty bill’s passage included: Reps. Vilma Santos-Recto of Batangas (chairman of the House committee on civil service), Carlos Isagani Zarate of Bayan Muna (chairman, House committee on environment and natural resources), Antonio Tinio of ACT Teachers (chairman, House committee on public information), Arlene Bag-ao of Dinagat Island (chairman, House committee on people participation), Sitti Djalia Turabin-Hataman of Anak Mindanao (chairman, House committee on Muslim Affairs), Josephine Ramirez-Sato of Occidental Mindoro, member of the Commission on Appointments, and Mariano Michael Velarde Jr. of Buhay (chair, House committee on overseas workers affairs), among others.