House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano’s resignation was rejected just minutes after he offered to step down from the leadership position.
“I will not be party to let the President now, so I am offering my resignation here and now to you my dear colleagues. My fate and the fate of the 2021 budget and the fate of the leadership of the House is in your hands,” Cayetano told lawmakers in his speech before the plenary.
However, Anak-Kalusugan Party-list Representative Mike Defensor rose to object Alan Peter Cayetano’s resignation.
The development came after Marinduque Representative Lord Allan Velasco and Cayetano met with President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday night to settle the “power struggle” on the speakership.
Cayetano said in his privilege speech earlier that Velasco would not be elected as the new House Speaker.
He added that Velasco could win if he resigns as Speaker, but the latter might only be ousted after a week.
“Under the Constitution, you need the majority of all members to be elected speaker. So I can step aside. But I can guarantee, he will not be elected,” Cayetano said of Velasco.
“In fact, I will make a fearless forecast: Hindi siya mananalo. Or if I step aside, mananalo siya after one week makukudeta siya. Bakit? Maraming popular sa Kongreso,” he added.
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Alan Peter Cayetano’s resignation as House Speaker rejected
Last week, Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte said the “supermajority” of solons still wants Taguig representative Alan Peter Cayetano as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
“If you will ask the congressmen now, the supermajority of congressmen now would like Speaker Alan Cayetano to continue. Why? Nakita naman ninyo yung performance ng Congress, kahit may break nagta-trabaho, tumaas ang rating,” Villafuerte said in an ANC interview.
Cayetano and Marinduque Representative Lord Allan Velasco has a standing term-sharing agreement for the speakership.
The speakership term-sharing agreement was supposed to be 15 months for Cayetano and 21 months for Velasco.
President Rodrigo Duterte arranged the agreement at the start of the 18th Congress in July last year.