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A contingent of 20 "abstentionists" delivered...

Press Statements

 

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

A contingent of 20 "abstentionists" delivered this morning to the House supermajority the latter’s chosen minority leader, Rep. Danilo Suarez.

After abstaining from voting for Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, their majority coalition’s candidate for Speaker, the 20 majority allies conspired with alacrity in electing a “minority leader”.

Pretending to be minority members, they replaced Rep. Teddy Baguilat, Jr. as minority leader even as the Ifugao solon garnered the second highest number of votes in the Speakership fight and bested Rep. Suarez.

The tradition in the House is that the runner-up in the election for Speaker automatically becomes the minority leader and there is no need for minority members to elect the minority leader when there is a clear-cut winner for said position consequent to the election of the Speaker.

The convening by the 20 “abstentionists” as a minority group to select a new minority leader is flawed for the following reasons:

  1. The said 20 Representatives have coalesced with the supermajority and/or affliated with the coalition partners, and as majority allies, they cannot choose a minority leader.

  2. After abstaining, they are considered independent members of the House for not being aligned either with the majority or minority as provided for in the last paragraph of Sec. 8, Rule 2 of the Rules of the House which unequivocally provides: “Members who choose not to align themselves with the Majority or the Minority shall be considered as independent Members of the House.”

  3. Rep. Suarez cannot aspire for or be minority leader because after voting for Speaker Alvarez, he is considered to belong to the majority. Again, Sec. 8, Rule 2 of the Rules of the House provides: “Members who vote for the winning candidate for Speaker shall constitute the Majority in the House.”

  4. The tradition in the House is that the clear runner-up in the contest for Speaker becomes the minority leader and this is Rep. Baguilat, Jr. who garnered 8 votes over Rep. Suarez who got only 7 votes, after the runaway winner, Speaker Alvarez, who had 252 votes.

 

EDCEL C. LAGMAN