Walden Bello bolts admin coalition, will resign as Akbayan party-list representative

By XIANNE ARCANGEL, GMA News

Published March 11, 2015 11:54am

Administration ally turned critic Walden Bello is set to resign as the representative of Akbayan party-list in the House of Representatives after officially severing ties with Malacañang over President Benigno Aquino III’s alleged “brazen cover-up” of his role in the controversial Mamasapano police operation.

“I am withdrawing support [for] the President because I can no longer support a President who is washing his hands of responsibility of a mission he planned and executed,” Bello told GMA News Online Wednesday.

Bello’s decision to leave the administration coalition comes at the heels of Aquino’s claim at a prayer gathering in Malacañang last Monday that he was “fooled” by sacked Special Action Force (SAF) Director Getulio Napeñas by giving him wrong information about the covert police operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last Jan. 25.

The SAF mission, dubbed “Oplan Exodus,” resulted cost the lives of 44 SAF troopers, 18 Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) members and five civilians.

Bello said he has already given Akbayan a notice of his intent to resign as its representative although he will still remain in the organization.

“The notice to the House and Comelec will be given in the next few days,” Bello said.

“As far as my future in Congress, I think our code of conduct as a party is that I cannot continue to represent an organization with which I have major policy disagreement such as on the question of support for the administration,” he added.

Bello said his decision to quit as a lawmaker was final and irrevocable.

In Malacañang, Communication Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the Palace respected Bello’s decision.

“Personal na desisyon ni Rep. Bello. Kailangang respetuhin,” Coloma said in a text message.

'Bello should stay'

Akbayan party-list Rep. Ibarra Gutierrez III said Bello had been wanting to resign as the party’s congressional representative since last year due to his contrasting views “on how to pursue reforms in the Aquino government.”

“I personally feel very strongly he should stay, and I think the party leadership shares this sentiment,” he said in a separate text message.

Nonetheless, Gutierrez said Bello’s intent would “undergo the appropriate party processes for serious consideration.”

Bello had previously locked horns with Malacañang for questioning Aquino’s implementation of the Disbursement Acceleration Program, parts of which the Supreme Court had declared unconstitutional.

The lawmaker also suggested that Aquino sack Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes, and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad because of the controversies hounding them but this went unheeded.

Admin coalition member

Last November, an irked Aquino told Bello to run for president if he believed his views on how to government were right.

Akbayan was part of the Liberal Party-led coalition in the 2010 and 2013 elections. The party's incumbent chair, former Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros, ran under an Aquino-led senatorial slate in both years.

The group also counts Aquino's three sisters as its biggest campaign donors in the 2010 elections, contributing a total of P112.183 million. — RSJ/NB, GMA News

Tags: waldenbello, mamasapanoclash