Duterte choosing Speaker compromised House independence, says Makabayan bloc

President Rodrigo Duterte's announcement that he has chosen Taguig City Representative Alan Peter Cayetano as the next Speaker has compromised the constitutionally-enshrined independence of the House of Representatives as a government branch, progressive Makabayan Bloc lawmakers said Monday.

"With this politics of convenience and presidential intervention, the independence of the House is again severely compromised and the interest of the majority of the people sacrificed," said Bayan Muna party-list Representative Carlos Zarate, the progressive Makabayan Bloc's candidate for Speaker.

Gabriela Women's Party Representative Arlene Brosas echoed Zarate's statement, saying that Duterte's proclamation "shreds into bits any remaining semblance of an independent House."

"[It] shamelessly pontificates a rubber stamp Lower House in tandem with a Duterte-dominated Senate," she added.

In his announcement, Duterte also said that Marinduque Representative Lord Allan Velasco would share the speakership post with Cayetano, while another speakership candidate, Leyte Representative Martin Romualdez, would serve as majority leader.

But Zarate said Duterte's intervention is only meant to save his already "fractious" coalition in the House and secure its survival until the next presidential elections.

"The cracks, though, are already very apparent in the once supermajority coalition. And, despite this term sharing for convenience, the different factions and their political and economic backers are expected to still wage a war of dominance in the coming days, especially with 2022 presidential elections already in the political horizon," he said.

Brosas called on Filipinos to condemn Duterte's statement, which she called "brazen mockery" of government institutions.

"Prepare to mobilize in tens of thousands as we frustrate and oppose a Duterte-controlled Congress and its sinister Charter change plan," she added. —NB, GMA News