Erice accuses Suarez of having selfish reasons for keeping House minority post

Caloocan City Representative Edgar Erice on Tuesday accused Minority Leader Danilo Suarez of supposedly having selfish reasons for trying to keep his position at the House of Representatives.

Erice made the remark after the House voted to retain Suarez as minority leader, putting an end to the weeks-long squabble as regards the leadership and membership of the House minority.

In a privilege speech, Erice mentioned about a CNN Philippines interview he and Suarez granted, which focused on the then-ongoing House minority dispute.

A video of a portion of the said interview was supposed to be shown in the plenary, but Majority Leader Rolando Andaya said it did not pass through a proper clearance procedure so it could not be presented.

Narrating the interview, Erice claimed that Suarez said the reason why many lawmakers had been transferring to his group was because "the minority leader is close to the Speaker."

"Yung mismong minority leader ang umamin na kaya maraming gustong sumama sa minority dahil malapit siya sa Speaker. How can you expect a minority leader so close to the Speaker and deliver check and balance to this House?" Erice said.

Erice even claimed that Suarez said that he did not want to lose his position because he wanted to leave a legacy in the House.

"I want to retire from this Congress as minority leader," he quoted Suarez as saying.

Suarez also added that he did not want to leave his office because he spent to renovate it, Erice said.

The interview even asked Suarez if such reason was "too personal" and "selfish," Erice added.

"How can we maintain credibility of this House kung ganyan ang mga kadahilanan kung bakit tayo maghahalal ng minority leader?" he said.

"Yan ang dahilan kung bakit ang majority ngayon in-affirm yung pagkakahalal ng ating minority leader!" he added.

Suarez, in response, confirmed that said portion of the interview, but said it was "off the record."

"Sinabi ko naman talaga sa kanya [interviewer], pumunta ka sa office ko, tignan mo kung anong pinagawa ko. I'm proud of that, ganito ko kamahal ang Kongreso," he said.

And contrary to the claims of Erice, Suarez said that 80 percent of the job of the minority is to keep the executive department in check.

"Nung ako ang minority at oversight, ang Kongreso ay on break pero tuluy-tuloy ang hearing ng aking committee. Because we must see to it that the expenditures of this government are properly accounted. And that's what we're going to do on the next 2019 budget hearing," he said.

He then urged his colleagues to stop fighting against each other and instead work hand in hand in the remaining months of the 17th Congress before it closes.

"I repeat that the minority, since I assumed office, is constructive. Hindi kami destructive. And with these remaining sessions, halos tatlong buwan na lang tayo magttrabaho, bakit pa tayo mag-aaway? E napakaraming issue na kailangan nating gampanan," he added.

Erice maintained that despite losing the minority race, they will still ensure the observance of checks and balance in the chamber.

"We will remain as minority kahit wala kaming komite, kahit wala kaming prebilehiyo sapagkat yan ang aming tungkulin. Sapagkat yung ginagawa naming ito, ito ang magbibigay ng kredibilidad, integridad sa Mababang Kapulungan," he said. — RSJ, GMA News