(Eagle News)—-The “quirks of politicians” in the House of Representatives are damaging the institution as the fight for posts under a new leadership in the House of Representatives continues, Rep. Edcel Lagman said on Saturday, July 28.
According to Lagman, for instance, while the “pertinent rule of the House of Representatives explicitly provides that those who vote for the winning Speaker constitute the majority,” members of the group of Rep. Danilo Suarez, who voted for Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to assume the House’s top post, want to be part of the minority.
During the time of Arroyo’s predecessor, Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez, Lagman said Suarez’s group was also the minority group even if its members voted for Alvarez.
“Meanwhile, the group of representatives who abstained from voting for (Arroyo), which is the authentic minority based on the House rules and recent jurisprudence, has not been recognized as the opposition despite its pending formal letter for recognition,” Lagman said.
Lagman also noted that Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas, the majority leader during Alvarez’s term, “is being groomed to retain his position despite the incongruity that he was the ousted Speaker’s chief lieutenant.”
“Only in the Philippines do quirks of politicians happen in damaging and embarrassing frequency,” Lagman said.
Arroyo succeeded Alvarez on Monday, July 23, in a sudden turn of events that saw congressmen electing their new leader twice on the day President Rodrigo Duterte was slated to hold his State of the Nation Address.
The first was via an informal voting, which appeared to have been questioned by Alvarez’s group, and the second, via a formal vote during a post-SONA session.