Rep. Eugene de Vera of Arts Business and Science Professionals Party-list is threatened to be removed from the roster of the House of Representatives for questioning before the Supreme Court the House leadership’s decision to recognize Rep. Danilo Suarez (Lakas, Quezon) as minority leader.
De Vera, who used to be a member of the Suarez’s minority bloc, was among the co-petitioners in the petition filed by former House majority leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas asking the high court to stop the House leadership from continuing to recognize Suarez as minority leader.
In House plenary session Monday night, Rep. Arnel Ty of LPGMA party-list tried but failed to question the quorum.
This, when House Majority Leader and Camarines Sur Rolando Andaya Jr. moved for a break in the ongoing plenary deliberations on the P3.757-trillion proposed national budget for 2019 to introduce “administrative matters.”
This developed as Suarez, at a news conference, denied any hand in De Vera’s alleged ouster move.
Meanwhile, Kabayan Party-list Rep. Paul Hernandez on Wednesday took his oath of office before Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, replacing the late congressman Ciriaco Calalang.
The appointment of Hernandez to replace Calalang was in response to the request of Kabayan Party-list Rep. Ron Salo, the party chairman, to include Hernandez in the roster of the House, said Andaya.
Salo was the former second nominee of the Kabayan party-list group after its first nominee, Harry Roque was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte as presidential spokesman last year and was replaced by Calalang in January 2018.
Hernandez is a Cavite-based evangelical pastor and fourth nominee of KABAYAN in the 2016 elections.
He is a full Gospel pastor with the FREE Mission Philippines churches.
Calalang passed away last Sept. 23 after suffering a stroke.
As far as Suarez’s is concerned, the issue on the minority leadership had been resolved already as both the majority and minority groups had agreed on the matter.
De Vera is allegedly being expelled as a congressman because he was already ousted as nominee of his party-list group.
De Vera and Ty, although belonging to different party-list groups, are allies with the bloc of ousted Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and former minority leader Rodolfo Fariñas.
Fariñas said De Vera was the legitimate minority leader since he was the second highest ranking minority member who did not vote for the speakership of Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Alvarez and Fariñas were both ousted from their posts last July after a coup led to the election of Arroyo as Speaker and Andaya as majority leader.