Duterte meets with Cayetano, respects House vote to reject Speaker's resignation
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 1) — President Rodrigo Duterte met with Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano on Wednesday, hours after the head of the House of Representatives offered to resign from his post amid a leadership tussle.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Thursday said Cayetano's wife Lani and sister, Senator Pia Cayetano, joined the meeting. He denied Cayetano arranged the event, saying Rep. Eddie Villanueva scheduled it weeks ago to pray over the President.
During the meeting, Roque recalled that the President told Cayetano he respects the decision of the 184 lawmakers who rejected the House Speaker's offer to immediately step down so Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco can take over the top position to uphold their term-sharing deal.
"The President has said he will not interfere beyond reminding the parties to honor the agreement. Hanggang doon lang ang posisyon ng Presidente. Iyan ang sinabi niya two weeks ago, pero kahapon ang sinabi na nga niya, eh with everything that has happened in the House, he accepts the decision of the lawmakers," he said in a media briefing held in Bataan.
[Translation: The President has said he will not interfere beyond reminding the parties to honor the agreement, that was his position, that's what he said two weeks ago. But as of yesterday, after what happened in the House, he accepts the decision of the lawmakers.]
Roque said he is unsure if the Taguig-Pateros representative will once again attempt to resign on October 14 — the resignation date he and Velasco agreed on during their meeting on Tuesday with Duterte, who mediated in the ongoing term-sharing squabble.
Under the term-sharing agreement brokered by Duterte in 2019, Cayetano was supposed to serve as Speaker for the first 15 months or until October this year. Velasco would then take over the post for the succeeding 21 months.
Following the overwhelming vote of the House, Roque said the President only stressed to Cayetano the need to pass the 2021 budget on time.
Velasco lambasted Cayetano for his offer to immediately resign, describing it as “political maneuverings and theatrics” that affected the ongoing budget deliberations in the chamber.
Cayetano opted to resign on Wednesday — two weeks ahead of the plan in the midst of House deliberations for the 2021 national budget. The chamber decided to suspend the budget deliberations until Friday morning.
