PRESS RELEASE
Office of Rep. Edcel C. Lagman
(LP-Albay)
0916-6406737 / 0918-9120137
03 July 2016

More than the ascendancy of a supermajority in the House of Representatives, what is seriously alarming is a possible emergence of a co-opted minority, a “company union” established and supported by the majority.

The alliance of a supermajority and a subservient minority in the House is a chemistry fatal to the democratic processes.

The apprehension is that parties in the majority coalition would clandestinely “lend” some of its members to a small group led by a Representative who previously encamped in Davao City to secure the anointment of the new administration for his bid to become Minority Leader.

I call on colleagues not to allow themselves to be pawns in a sinister plot to create a rubberstamp Congress.

I earnestly urge the remaining Liberal Party Representatives to forge a minority coalition with similarly-minded Partylist Representatives and members of the other parties, and become the reasonable, credible and vigilant counterpoise to the new administration.

The constitutional precept of “checks and balances” must not be sacrificed at the unholy altar of partisanship and expediency.

EDCEL C. LAGMAN