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PDP-Laban eyes sealing coalition agreement with LP by next week


The supermajority coalition in the House of Representatives is expected to grow bigger with the impending entry of the Liberal Party.

Incoming House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez confirmed that the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Laban ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) is on track to signing a coalition agreement with LP after weeks of negotiations.

“We’re hoping to sign a coalition agreement with LP next week,” he said in a phone interview with GMA News Online.

In a separate text message, outgoing Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., LP’s vice chairman, said an agreement formalizing the party’s alliance with PDP-Laban is “in the works.”

Negotiations for a coalition between PDP-Laban and LP were earlier stalled by a proposal to whittle down the former ruling party's membership to around 20.

This time, however, Alvarez said LP can maintain its current number of members. "Okay lang sa akin," he said.

Ifugao Rep. Teddy Baguilat, an LP stalwart, said the party had around "36 to 40" members as of last week.

During the Aquino administration, LP had a membership of 115 lawmakers.

The supermajority bloc, comprised of over 200 lawmakers, is expected to support the candidacy of Alvarez for speaker, as well as the passage of the Duterte administration's priority measures.

Some of the political parties that have joined the Alvarez-led bloc are the Nacionalista Party, Nationalist People's Coalition, Lakas-CMD, and the National Unity Party.

NP has around 50 members while NPC counts at least 80 lawmakers in its roster. NUP’s membership in the House is around 40 while Lakas-CMD has five.

The party-list bloc, which has also expressed its intent to join the supermajority coalition, has at least 40 members. — VVP, GMA News

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