Sara Duterte denies instructing solons to vote for Speaker according to conscience

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte denied urging lawmakers to vote whoever they want for Speaker despite the endorsement of her father, President Rodrigo Duterte, for Taguig City Representative Alan Peter Cayetano.

Sara's remark came after Anakalusugan party-list Representative Mike Defensor showed a text message to reporters on Tuesday night where she supposedly told congressmen to vote according to their conscience.

"Kaya nanawagan siya (Sara) ngayon sa lahat ng mga Congressmen na bumoto ayon sa kanilang kagustuhan dahil ang [kanyang] ama ay na set-up lamang ng mga gahaman na Gabinete na kaalyado ni Cayetano," the text message read.

Defensor said the message was relayed to him by "newcomers" to the House of Representatives.

Sara, in a statement, urged Defensor to "stop sowing intrigue" and reveal the source of the text he presented to reporters so that people can verify it.

"Give us the name of the neophyte member of the House of Representatives from whom you received a text message with a supposed message coming from me. A responsible individual would have asked me if there is truth to the text," she said.

Sara said before her father's meeting in Malacañang with the candidates for Speaker on Monday, Defensor had been contacting her through her friend, lawyer Charo Munsayac, to make last-minute requests for Leyte Representative Martin Romualdez, but she said she would not interfere on the matter.

Romualdez was among those running for Speaker until Duterte said he should be House majority leader under the term-sharing scheme between Cayetano and Marinduque Representative Lord Allan Velasco.

After the meeting, Sara said Defensor reached out to her again. She said she realized that he was "trying to light a fire about the term sharing decision that came out of the meeting last Monday."

"Should I have anything to say about what happened on July 8, I will not cowardly hide behind an alleged 'panawagan,'" Sara said.

"I reiterate for Rep. Defensor to name his source because I have a reputation to protect and I have the right to confront a person who is spreading disinformation. Otherwise, we can all say that you are your own source," she added.

Defensor later on apologized to Sara over the text message, saying that he should not have shown it since it contained the Davao City mayor's name.

"I apologize to the good Mayor Inday Sara. I should not have shown the text with her name. It was wrong of me to drag her name unfairly on this matter," he said.

House members will formally elect the next Speaker during the opening of the session of the 18th Congress on the morning of July 22, the same day President Duterte will deliver his fourth State of the Nation Address. —KBK, GMA News