Pagsuspinde sa sesyon ng Kongreso ni Cayetano, isang astute political move-Sec. Roque

PARA sa Malakanyang, isang matalinong political move ang ginawa ni House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano nang biglang pagtibayin sa ikalawang pagbasa ang House Bill 7727 o ang 2021 General Appropriations Act at suspendihin ang sesyon ng Kongreso hanggang Nobyembre 16.

Ayon kay Presidential Spokes- person Harry Roque, “House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano’s move to rush the passage of the 2021 national budget and derail a plan to unseat him was “a very astute political move.”

Sa ulat, inaprubahan, araw ng Martes ng Kongreso sa ikalawang pagbasa ang •4.5 trillion 2021 national budget sa gitna ng isinagawang privilege speech ni Cayetano patungkol pa rin sa isyu ng Speakership.

Sa ulat, agad na nagmosyon si Cayetano na i-terminate na ang deliberasyon ng plenaryo sa 2021 budget at aprubahan na ito sa second reading.

Nagkaisa rin ang mga kaalyado ni Cayetano na suspendihin sesyon hanggang Nov. 16, na tila para ma- pre- empt ang pagpapalit sa liderato sa Kongreso sa Oktubre 14.

Ang nasabing petsa ay nakasaad sa term-sharing agreement ni Cayetano kay Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco.

“It is not illegal, but I would think it’s a very astute political move because it avoided intramural that could have possible happened in Oct. 14,” ayon kay Sec. Roque.

“For what it’s worth, you need to have the experience of Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano because he has dealt with the same rules, not only for 3 terms as congress- man—this is already his fourth term as congressman—but also as a 2-termer senator,” dagdag na pahayag ni Sec. Roque.

Sa kabilang dako, inakusahan naman ni Buhay Partylist Rep. Lito Atienza si Cayetano ng paglabag sa House rules dahil sa ginawa nitong pag- mute sa mic habang may nagnanais na mag- object sa nasabing kaganapan sa pamamagitan ng video conferencing.

“Whether you’re on Zoom or live, that has been done by the House leaderships, actually. it is not the first time in the history of either the House or the senate that mics have been muted,” ayon kay Sec.Roque.

Noong 2018 coup laban kay Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, sup- porters ng successor na si dating Pangulo at ngayon ay Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, ay hindi rin narinig dahil ang mga mics ng mga ito ay naka- turned off.

“Another thing they literally do when they want to achieve an objective is they run away with the seal,” dagdag na pahayag ni Sec. Roque.

Unang magsisilbi si Cayetano bilang Speaker sa unang 15 buwan habang ang huling 21 buwan ang pagsisilbihan ni Velasco.

“Whether or not that is in compliance with the gentleman’s agreement, I leave that up to the parties,” ayon kay Sec. Roque.

“In an issue such as this, there is no judge. Even the courts can- not intervene because the orga- nization and leadership of the House is a purely internal mat- ter. And the Executive cannot really intervene in the choice of who next Speaker will be,” dagdag na pahayag nito. (Daris Jose)