Suspension of House session an 'astute political move' of Cayetano — Roque

Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano made an “astute political move” when he successfully pushed for the suspension of the session of the House of Representatives ahead of a possible leadership change next week, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Wednesday.

The House on Tuesday abruptly suspended its session until November 16 after passing the proposed 2021 national budget on second reading.

This means that there will be no session on October 14, the date on which the plenary is supposed to formally elect Marinduque Representative Lord Allan Velasco as its speaker in compliance with the term-sharing agreement between him and Cayetano.

"It is not illegal, but I would think it’s a very astute political move because it avoided intramurals that could have possibly happened on October 14," Roque said in a CNN Philippines interview.

"For what it's worth, I think you need to have the experience of Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano because he has dealt with the same rules, not only for three terms as congressman — this is already his fourth term as congressman — but also as a two-term senator," he added.

Roque reiterated that Malacañang could not meddle in the affairs of the House even if it was President Rodrigo Duterte who brokered the term-sharing deal last year.

“In an issue such as this, there is no judge. Even the courts cannot intervene because the organization and leadership of the House is a purely internal matter and the Executive cannot really interfere in the choice of who the next Speaker will be,” he said.

Velasco earlier said Cayetano and his allies should be held accountable for "railroading" the legislative process by terminating the budget deliberations right away and not giving enough time for lawmakers to scrutinize the budget of many government agencies.

The Marinduque lawmaker also claimed that Cayetano no longer enjoys the trust and confidence of House members, who recently voted to reject the Taguig City congressman’s offer to resign.

Velasco met with President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday to seek the latter’s permission to run for speaker. Duterte, in response, said that it was Velasco’s “right” to seek the highest post in the House under the term-sharing agreement.

"No one can question the speakership on October 14. The earliest that they can do that is on November 16," Roque said.

Under the agreement, Cayetano would hold the speakership for 15 months from July 2019 and Velasco would take over to finish the succeeding 21 months.  —KBK, GMA News