Duterte's 'clear signal' crucial to end House speakership row, Lacson says

President Rodrigo Duterte should once and for all state who he wants to sit as House Speaker to finally end the ongoing squabble in the lower chamber, Senator Panfilo Lacson said Wednesday.

The senator said this as he claimed that the abrupt suspension of session in the House sans the approval of the general appropriations bill on third reading is related to the leadership conflict between House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and Marinduque Representative Lord Allan Velasco.

"I don’t think it’s anomalous for the President to really make his position clear kung sino ba talaga ang dapat umupong Speaker, whether it’s Speaker Cayetano or Rep. Velasco. Basta klaro lang para maiwasan ang ganyang gulo. Nadadamay ang budget eh. Sayang," Lacson said in an online interview.

"Kung hindi clear ang binibigay na position ng Malacanang especially the President because after all he’s the leader of the party. So kaya nagkakagulo kasi kanya-kanyang interpretation. So mas maganda once and for all siguro, i-state anong position ng party leader," he added.

The Palace earlier said Duterte views the House squabble as an "internal matter" of a co-equal branch of the government.

"I think Malacanang or the President should really come up with a clear signal, not necessarily instruction, because, of course, they will refuse to instruct or interfere with the affairs of a co-equal branch of government," Lacson said.

Duterte chairs the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), the political party where Velasco belongs to.

On the other hand, Cayetano comes from the Nacionalista Party but he was the running mate of Duterte in the 2016 elections.

Both being allies of the President, the two congressmen reached a term-sharing deal in 2019 wherein Cayetano would serve for the first 15 months and Velasco would take over for the next 21.

As Cayetano's term was about to expire this month, the two met with Duterte in Malacanang but after which, they don't tell the same story about the agreement on who would sit as Speaker come October 14.

Amid the seething power struggle, the House suspended its session on Tuesday without passing the budget bill on third reading, which in turn threatened to derail the initial timetable of the Senate on tackling the budget in plenary.

Lacson said the 2021 budget is as good as re-enacted because of this.—AOL, GMA News