Abante quits as House minority leader, joins majority bloc

House Minority Leader Bienvenido Abante Jr. of Manila has resigned from his leadership post on Friday just as he finished his turno en contra speech on the proposed P4.5 trillion national budget for 2021.

“I have full trust in the new leadership. There is no better symbol of this trust than the expression of intent to join the Majority so I could be more proactive in providing urgently needed legislation and congressional oversight on the instance that the Majority leader and the Speaker favorably act on this prayer,” Abante said, referring to newly-elected Speaker Lord Allan Velasco.

“Ako po ay sasama sa Majority,” Abante added.

Abante said that he trusts his former colleagues in the minority bloc to judiciously choose his successor.

He thanked the minority bloc members for their support in the last 15 months.

“This is a difficult decision since the minority bloc has become my extended family in the House. I will always cherish the time we worked together,” Abante said.

“Magkaiba man tayo ng partido, paniniwala, ideolohiya, there is one thing that binds us, which is our desire to serve our people,” Abante added.—LDF, GMA News