IWEDNESDAY 22 MAY 2OI9
Sneak peek into lsth Congress
(( The ptoclamation of
winning senators and partylist
Unlike representatives was prepared as a
his red-carpet affair ai the Philippine
pAarcqq Intemational ConYention Center
Presi.dent (PICC), but did not push through
Rod,rigo yesterday to await canvassing of
Duterte has votes from Washington DC. An
been rid,ing estimated 200,000 votes are still
on an expected to.come in that could
a.lter th€ composition of the Magic
unending
waae of
12. It has been a tooth-and-nail
battle between Senators Nancy
support Binay and JV Qjercito for the izth
from the spot, with Binay consistently having
mns$e$, the upper hand. Both ar€ scions
d,espite of huge political families, a.ffected
thn noise by their public in-fighting among
caused, by their siblings, but young enough to
keyboard make a hug€ difference and make
warriors, a comeback in the years to come,
who Rega.rdless, the composition of
the Senatre is now pretty obvious,
eaid,entlq
dn not aote.
leaving the opposition in shambles.
The top officers of the Liberal
Party (LP), Sen. Kikb Pangilinan
and Rep. Kit Belmonte, submitted
their resignations as campaign
manager and secretary general,
respectively. Vice President Leni
Robredo was said to have refused
to accept the resignations, though
the deeds had already been done.
We should expect new offrcers from
the LP soon to be appointed and
announced.
Senators axe e)rp€cted to retain
Senate President Tiio Sotto and
M4jority Leader Miguel Zubiri,
leaving the talk as to who the new
Senate committee chairpersons
wiu be. The advantage of having
a super mdority is the ease of it has
passing the President's legislative
pdorities. Most contJoversial will be
the expected discussion on bringing
back the death penalty. Given the
President's strong stance against
drugs, we can expect criminals
to be executed for drug-related Bedora to De for ACT-CIS,
crimes before his term ends. The rcpresented, which effectively
President's allies ma.y also open up broke the culve in determining
talks for constitutional
amendments and the
passage ofthe next tax
reform packages.
The same agenda
cannot be said
about the House of
Representatives, since
the Spea"lGrship is still
up for grabs. 0utgoing
Speaker and former
President Gloria QUO UADIS
Macapagal-Aroyo has Darren M. de Jesus
certainly raised the
bar high ffith her workaholic
attitud€ and natural genius in
economics and management. The
next Speaker definitely wi have
huge shoes to fill. Speaker Arroyo's
chosen one, incoming Congressman
Mariin Romualdez of Lakas{MD is
expected to cdhtinu\e her styte ot
leadership. However, the other
candidates for Speakership are
expected to lobby intensively
to both the President and the
new congressmen. These include
Partido Demokratiko Pilipino's
former Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez
and Lord Alan Velasco, and former
Foreign Secretary Alan Peter
Cayetano of the Nacionalista Party.
.. Looking at
55 the composition
Bep.-Edcel of the House of
Lagma,nol Representatives
Albay said for the l8th
that he shqll Congress, we see
initi&te a some diversitv in
reaisit o:f the the mix. This is
PartA List primarily because
Act since more partylists
been were granted a
bastadized, seat to fill, and
as it uas we have leading
originallu ACT-CIS to blame.
futended The Tulfo star
to allou porrer brought in
nryinalized miUions of votes
n
'* PAQ€ '4 't
how many partylists
can be granted a
seat in C ongress.
Now, we have more
partylists with a single
seat, causing more
variance in sectoral
representation, if
there is still such a
thing. Yesterday, the
Ma.kabayan bloc held a
press conference where
Rep. Edcel Lagman of
that he shall
A.lbay said
initiate a revisit of the Pa.rty List
Act since it has been basta.rdized,
as it was originally interded to
allow marginalized sectors to be
represented, Noq it is a mere
conduit for political dynasties.
In the same Yein, it bears
mentioning. that we now have
five husband-and-\dfe tandems in
the House for ihe lllth Congress,
to wit; Alan Peter and Lani
Cayetano (Taguig); Martin and
Yedda Romualdez (Leyte and
nngog Partylisi); Horacio and Ging
Suansing (Sultan Kudarat and
Nueva Ecija); Bem and Josephine
Noel (An Waray Partylist and
Malabon); and Rashidin and
Angelica Matba (Tawi-Tawi and
Agusan del Norte).
Whoever the next Speaker will
be, we can expect more. work to
be done in the second half of
the President's term. Unlike his
predecessors, President Rodrigo
Duterte has been riding on an
unending wave of support from
the masses, despite the noise
caused by keyboard warriors, who
evidently do not vote. lhis support
ha.s inqeased his political capital
to push for legislation unlike never
before. Who knows, by 2022, we
can now be Federal Republic of
the Philippines.
Dt edl: dar,etL.d,4e&ts@dqj.st^tkgal,cot1,
ot tttoet @d@mnd4i@t!s