Sotto on squabble for House speakership: Tumaas ang kilay ko, umabot sa noo

Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Saturday said the recent squabble for the House speakership left him perplexed.

"Tumaas ang kilay ko. Umabot sa noo. Kumbaga sa ano ha, sabi sa showbiz, What? Bakit? Bakit ngayon?" he said in a radio interview.

President Rodrigo Duterte was to deliver his third State of the Nation Address last Monday at 4 p.m. However, it was delayed for more than an hour since some members of the House of Representatives voted informally to oust Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and have former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo take over his post.

Alvarez however appealed for status quo, said House Minority Leader Danilo Suarez.

"There was an appeal na status quo na lang muna kasi kung magma-matigas yung isa, walang Speaker sa SONA. Mawawalan ng SONA," he said.

Alvarez later sat at the rostrum when Duterte delivered his SONA. A special session after the SONA was called to make a formal election, installing Arroyo as Speaker.

"Hindi dapat ginawa sa araw ng SONA [ang eleksyon] kasi 'yun lang, pinasa namin ang BOL [Bangsamoro Organic Law], hindi ginagawa 'yun. By tradition pero kailangan sapagkat gusto ng Pangulo, pinangako niya, pinasa namin nung umaga bagamat 'di ginagawa 'yun. 'Yun lang, medyo out of tradition pero ginawa namin at walang gulo. Pero nung magpalit kayong bigla, dapat ginawa nila nung umaga. Nung 'di nila ginawa ng umaga, dapat ipinagpaliban nila," he said.

"Opinyon ko lang naman ito. 'Wag silang magagalit. In due respect to them, sabi ko nga sa Cong na kausap ko, 'Ba't 'di niyo ginawa nung gabi o kinabukasan?' Eh kasi raw baka wala ang numero. Sabi ko, 'Therefore you don't have the numbers kasi if you have the numbers, ba't naman mawawala?'" he added.

Asked if the change in House leadership will affect Duterte's leadership, Sotto said he can't say.

"'Di ko masabi 'yan kasi I don't want to second-guess the President," he said.

Sotto however believes the PDP-Laban, the party of Duterte, will address the matter.

"Ang suspetsa ko, the party will crack the whip. Ang matitira sa kanila 'yung talagang party members, pero 'yung mga sumali sa kanila dahil sa Presidente, eh puwede na umalis," he said. —KG, GMA News