A total of 200 congressmen have signed a manifesto showing their support for House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano amid a move to unseat him in favor of Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco.
“Following the President’s call for the individual members of the House of Representatives to vote freely and without reservation on who we wish to lead this chamber, we the undersigned hereby manifest our full and unequivocal support for the continued leadership of Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano,” the lawmakers said in the manifesto, a copy of which was released by Majority Leader Martin Romualdez.
The manifesto was released after Velasco, claiming he had 186 votes from other House members, was “sworn in” as speaker in a supposed session held at the Celebrity Sports Complex on Monday.
Velasco’s camp said the 186 votes constitute a majority in the 299-member House, but the Cayetano camp said the 200 signatures on the manifesto showed Cayetano had the majority.
If both sides were telling the truth, it is clear that some lawmakers signed both documents, since there are only 297 members of the House.
Maguindanao Rep. Esmael Mangudadatu on Monday denied to GMA News Online that he signed a manifesto in support of Cayetano remaining as House Speaker.
"I am categorically denying my signature. They do not have my permission for that signature," he said in a phone call to GMA News.
But Cayetano said Velasco’s takeover as speaker was “fake.”
In a press conference, he also said he was dismayed that the Velasco camp held the gathering on the eve of the special session called by the President to pass the 2021 national budget.
“Their purpose is to sow chaos. The last time i checked, the Celebrity Sports Club is not Congress. They are throwing the Constitution into the waste basket. What they did was fake session,” Cayetano said in Filipino.
“This is a very disturbing precedent. They said when there's quorum they can meet any day and anywhere and do whatever they want? If that's is valid, we are now seeing a banana republic,” he added.
Deputy Speaker Neptali Gonzales II, a Cayetano supporter, also said the Monday gathering held outside the Batasan Complex was an "illegal session."
Gonzales said the House suspended its session until Nov. 16, and there was no authority from plenary to reconvene.
Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte, a Cayetano ally, also denounced the move of his fellow legislators, saying it "totally disrupts" the special session set for the passage of the 2021 budget from Tuesday to Thursday.
"Let's approve the budget first. If anyone wants to invoke leadership change or any other matter, that should be secondary to the budget,” Villafuerte said in a statement.
"We would like to reiterate, we are all in one in passing the budget in a constitutionally sound manner. Whoever disrupts the budget delibrations are the ones disobeying the President,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.
Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said the election of Velasco by a rump session was illegal.
"A speaker must be elected when the House is in session in open and public plenary proceedings," said Lagman.
“Although the precipitate suspension of the sessions starting in the afternoon of Oct. 6, 2020 up to Nov. 15, 2020 is questionable, the legitimacy of said suspension has not been challenged before the proper forum and there has been no official declaration of its nullity,” he said.
In signing the manifesto, the 200 lawmakers said they were declaring their “common desire to heed the call of President Rodrigo Duterte and the entire nation for the swift passage of the 2021 national budget.”
“We likewise join the call of Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and the leadership of the House of Representatives for unity and cooperation among our colleagues in all priority legislation that are in line with the efforts of the Duterte administration in combating the COVID-19 pandemic and providing a safe, prosperous, and comfortable life for all,” they said.
The lawmakers said they believe Cayetano’s resignation as speaker on Sept. 30 had in effect rendered the term sharing agreement between him and Velasco “moot and academic” as the majority had already spoken.
“We therefore call on Congressman Velasco to respect the collective desire of his peers to allow the continuation of Speaker Cayetano’s exemplary leadership,” they said.
The 200 lawmakers thanked the President for his “valiant attempts… to resolve the matter amicably among the parties concerned” but noted “with grave concern” Velasco’s “numerous rejections of the President’s request to allow Speaker Cayetano the time to finish the budget by December 2020 before implementing the change as an act unbecoming of someone who wants to lead this chamber.”
Cayetano on Monday led the small committee tasked to work on the proposed P4.5 trillion national budget for 2021 on the eve of the special session called by President Duterte to ensure the timely passage of the money measure.
“Since 1992, small committees have been formed to accept individual amendments of the House members because if these were taken in plenary, the budget would not be completed,” Cayetano said in a mix of English and Filipino.
“Despite the circus, we’ll work and finish the budget,” he added.
But President Rodrigo Duterte appeared exasperated over Cayetano’s action by calling for a resumption of the session to allow the timely approval of the budget bill
The House was supposed to approve the proposed budget on third and final reading on Oct. 14, the date that Velasco was expected to assume the post and Cayetano to step down, under a term-sharing agreement brokered by the President.