The group of Rep. Danilo Suarez ousted themselves from the minority when they vigorously campaigned and voted for former President and Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as the new Speaker.

It is foolhardy for Suarez and his group to insist that in the recent House upheaval there was a mere change in the position of Speaker and the rest of the major positions, including that of the minority leader, remain the same.

Although it was only the position of Speaker which was declared vacant, any change in the leadership of a legislative assembly, like the House of Representatives, necessarily results in changes in the composition of the majority and minority in the Chamber.

This is inevitable because a change in leadership automatically carries with it the shifting of alliances and loyalties.

The change in the speakership did not happen in an isolated vacuum.

It was effected through the mobilization of partisan forces, severance of alliances, and obliteration of loyalties.

No less that the Supreme Court in Baguilat vs. Alvarezopined that the election of the Speaker will “determine the constituency of the majority and the minority.”

EDCEL C. LAGMAN