"Forget word of honor"
"Forget word of honor"The call of President Duterte for a special session at the House of Representatives on October 13-16 mayhave saved the P4.15-trillion budget from further delay. But it has not solved the leadership impasse between Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco.
When Cayetano suspended the session, it was clearly aimed at preventing a showdown on the Speakership issue on October 14. This is the date when Cayetano, according to their agreement, would relinquish the Speakership to Velasco.
But, my gulay, earlier this month, Cayetano “resigned,” prompting his allies to muster 184 votes to reject his resignation.
Was it part of a script? I can’t say for sure. But this action was clearly meant to prevent Velasco from asking for a showdown this Wednesday,
The question is: Will Cayetano resign as agreed upon? One thing is for sure – the outcome will rely on the numbers. Who has it? I am not betting on anybody.
If there are those who believe in word of honor, they should forget it in this case. What is it about the Speakership that is so important to both Cayetano and Velasco? It all boils down to the allocation earmarked in the budget for members of the House. It may no longer be called “pork” but it is “lump sum allocations” just the same, under the public works territory where members of Congress can partake of kickbacks.
This budget allocation is all-important for members of Congress seeking re-election. They have to show some accomplishment to their constituents by 2022. So the Speaker should be able to assure a lawmaker of his or her allocation.
Thus, this coming October 14, who will be Speaker? I cannot tell – and only the numbers can. In the final analysis, a term-sharing agreement becomes irrelevant when put against their self-interest.
What is important to Duterte and national interest is the swift passage of the national budget especially during this time of COVID-19.
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Pulse Asia says that according to its survey, President Duterte enjoys the trust of 91 percent of Filipinos. Frankly I was dumbfounded; I could not make heads or tails of it.
I have been a journalist for over seven decades and covered 10 presidents. No other chief executive comes close to this feat of Duterte’s. Even President Cory Aquino’s 86 percent just after the 1986 People Power Revolution was, I thought then, the highest that any president could achieve.
What could Duterte have done to have a 91-percent rating more than four years into his term, and in the middle of a pandemic, no less? I do not think he is particularly spectacular, even though I believe he has the common good and national interest in mind.
I found the answer in another survey – a 92-percent trust in and satisfaction with the government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis. My gulay, if the people believe that the government is doing all it can during this difficult time, then that is a reflection that the President is also doing all he can.
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The World Health Organization tells us that the COVID-19 vaccine we are all waiting for could come by the end of the year. We need this for the new normal.
This means that the government could have the vaccine for all Filipinos by January 2021 or the first quarter of next year.
The Department of Health should plan how it would make the vaccine available to all Filipinos, especially those who need it most. Access to the vaccine is a matter of life and death.
