(Eagle News)–Deputy Speaker Rolando Andaya Jr. on Sunday, July 29, said the majority will distance itself from the ongoing disagreements on who should lead the minority bloc in the House of Representatives under Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s term as Speaker.
According to Andaya, if there was anything they would decide on, “siguro ‘yung guidelines lang kung paano ang pagpili nila.”
He said they would, however, leave it to the parties involved to decide who will lead the minority bloc.
“Sila lang ang puwedeng magresolba,” he said.
Under House rules, those who did not vote for the candidate who eventually became Speaker will automatically constitute the minority.
On this basis, several Liberal Party members led by Rep. Miro Quimbo believe they were the “duly constituted” bloc.
But Rep. Danilo Suarez, who was the leader of the minority bloc during the term of Arroyo’s predecessor, Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez, said he would write Arroyo so they could be retained as the acknowledged minority.
This was despite the fact the group campaigned for and elected Arroyo as Speaker.
Rep. Edcel Lagman on Saturday criticized the current dynamics in the House, saying the “politicians’ quirks” were damaging to the institution.
In a surprising turn of events, Arroyo was elected twice as Speaker on Monday, one prior to President Rodrigo Duterte’s State of the Nation Address, and another after.