Capiz's Fredenil Castro mulls taking House minority leader post

Former House Majority Leader Capiz Representative Fredenil Castro is considering taking the minority leader post in the chamber in the 18th Congress.

This, even as he expressed support to the speakership bid of Leyte Representative Martin Romualdez, who already accepted the majority leadership post as declared by President Rodrigo Duterte.

In a statement on Wednesday, Castro said there are House members who are pushing for him to seek the minority leadership supposedly to maintain a "credible balance of opinion" on all issues that the chamber may take upon.

"I am seriously studying whether I could maintain my balance considering the hairline difference between being a minority member from an opposition; this is because, critical collaboration as distinguished from from being destructive is called for," he said.

"I will wait for guidance if I am capable of responding to this Macedonian call as part of my service to my country," he added.

In the 17th Congress, Castro served as Deputy Speaker for Visayas under the speakership of Davao Del Norte Representative Pantaleon Alvarez before taking the majority leadership under the leadership of former Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Castro had backed Romualdez for Speaker, whom he described as a "coalition-builder."

"Diyan pa lang ay maaaninag ang kanyang kakayahan na maging lider ng mga kasamahan niya sa Mababang Kapulungan upang maisulong sa ilalim ng isang malakas na koalisyon ang mga priority bills ng ating administrasyon at priority bills ng mga kasamahan niyang congressmen sa Mababang Kapulungan ng Kongreso," he said in an earlier media forum.

Aside from the majority leader position, Duterte also declared Taguig City Representative Alan Peter Cayetano as his choice for Speaker, a position that he would share with Marinduque Representative Lord Allan Velasco.

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 that Duterte is set to deliver his fourth State of the Nation Address. —KBK, GMA News