Duterte to meet Cayetano, Velasco tonight

September 29, 2020

President Rodrigo Duterte is set to meet on Tuesday night Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco amid the leadership issue in the House of Representatives.

In a televised press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the meeting was set at 6pm.

Asked of the possible position of the President during his meeting with the two lawmakers, Roque reiterated Duterte's earlier statement expressing hope that Cayetano and Velasco would honor their term-sharing agreement as Speaker of the House.

But he added what Duterte has said that if Velasco could not get majority votes from the House, the President could not do anything about it.

Despite the independence of Congress, in 2019 Duterte decided to interfere on the leadership issue in the House of Representatives to prevent the division among his allies.

To settle the issue, he asked Cayetano and Velasco for a term-sharing deal wherein Cayetano would be the Speaker for the first 15 months or until this month, while Velasco for the remaining 21 months.

However, there were reports that Cayetano wants to hold on to speakership as more congressmen reportedly have been supporting him. Celerina Monte/DMS