Palace Gives Statement On Velasco-Cayetano Term-Sharing Deal: “It will be awkward”
PALACE GIVES STATEMENT ON TERM-SHARING – It seemed like President Duterte, House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco had already made an agreement.
However, this might not be as cut and dry as a simple meeting with the president. Even though Duterte already asked for Velasco and Cayetano to honor the term-sharing agreement, there was still some gray area.
Additionally, the follow-up statements of Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque also implicates a different narrative, one that may seem “open-ended”. During an interview with ANC, Roque stated that it would be “awkward if the announcement on the leadership of the House will come from the Palace“.
Was the spokesperson referring to the President’s meeting with Velasco and Cayetano? As per the interview, Roque emphasized that “It is the House leadership that should address what has been agreed upon”.
Furthermore, he noted that Cayetano agreed to make an announcement regarding last night’s meeting soon. Still, even with Cayetano agreeing to honor the term-sharing deal, Velasco stated that the final say would be up to the House of Representatives.
Under the term-sharing deal, Cayetano and Velasco would both serve as the leader of the House of Representatives. The latter would serve for 15 months and Velasco assuming the remaining 21 months of the post. Meanwhile, Cayetano’s stint, as per the deal, is set to expire this October.
However, the deal has been questioned several times with lawmakers rejecting the agreement. Instead, they wanted Cayetano to stay in his post longer despite the deal which both Cayetano and Velasco said they would honor.
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