(Eagle News)–The first regular session of both the Senate and the House of Representatives opened on Monday, July 22.
The opening of their regular sessions under the 18th Congress comes hours before President Rodrigo Duterte is slated to hold his State of the Nation Address before a joint congressional session.
Both the Senate and the House are expected to elect their respective leaders.
Although the Senate presidency appears to be a done deal and will go to Senator Tito Sotto, it was still unclear to whom the House speakership would go as of Sunday night, with Rep. Paolo Duterte, the presidential son, scheduled to hold a breakfast meeting with solons before the opening of the regular session of the House.
In the end, the breakfast meeting with the younger Duterte did not push through, with reports saying the presidential son himself did not make an appearance, leading to speculations Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano would be the next Speaker, as announced by the elder Duterte.
The President had said Cayetano would lead the House for the first 15 months, followed by Rep. Lord Allan Velasco under a term-sharing agreement.
