House abruptly ends Monday session; no motion to 'oust' Cayetano made

In an unprecedented move, the House of Representatives abruptly ended its session on Monday only 18 minutes after it was called to order amid the supposed plot to remove Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and other leaders of the chamber from their posts.

Deputy Speaker Raneo Abu, who was the presiding officer, declared the suspension of the session until 3 p.m. on Tuesday right after the measures for first reading had been read.

No motion to declare the positions of Speaker and Deputy Speakers vacant was made. There was even no motion to suspend the session, but Abu declared it nevertheless.

On Sunday, presidential son and Deputy Speaker Paolo Duterte confirmed sending a text message to lawmakers saying that he would ask the Mindanao Bloc to declare House leadership positions vacant this afternoon amid issues involving budgetary allocations for the legislative districts of congressmen.

"The text message that I sent to another lawmaker — and is now making the rounds — was an expression of my personal dismay upon hearing the concerns of my fellow lawmakers," he said.

Although numerous lawmakers had called to tell him their concerns over their districts' budget allocations, Duterte maintained that he does not want to get involved in the ongoing budgetary squabbles.

House appropriations chair Eric Yap also said earlier in the day that he had a "99.9%" feeling that Cayetano would remain in his position.

Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte also said that Duterte and Cayetano have already talked to each other amid the supposed coup plot.—AOL, GMA News