6,lpffilunt[aMmlg' News IHURSDAY July 11,201e

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,Sara denies text rejecting Cayetaqo

DAVAO CitY Mayor, Sara Dutelte-
Catpio on WednL:daY denied har ing a
hand in r Lert tne"sage allegcdll sent by
her carup to iegisiators urging them to
vote for whoevertheywant lor speake4
i:h oI her ldlner Presider]l nessage on MondaY night from some
dery ing rhe w
Rodiigo Dutene. one'wry close" to Duterte-Carplo, say-
'lhe denial (Jme afier Atr.tk l(rltt- irg lhe Presidentwas "set-up bygleedy
aJlietl with Taguig
su8an partylisl Rep. ivtichael 'lvlike" CJinet ne mbers"
.
Defensor conill,rned receivilg a lext .t $elsiosA2

J WDENIES FROM Ai

Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano,
whom the Chief Executive
' otherwise, we can all saY that
earlier announced will share
terms with Marinduciue ReP.
Lord Allan Velasco.
ln a statement, Duterte-
Carpio called on Defensor to
"stop sowing intrigue" and
"to name the source in his
to confront a person who is
spreading disinformation.
you are your own source," the
mayor added.
Defensor later on Wednes-
day apologized to Duterte-
Carpio for "dragging her
name" in the speakershiP race
apologize, ma'am, ifl have of-
fended you," Defensor added,
r.eferriig to the maYor bY her
nickname.
A supporter of former sPeaker
hopeful Rep. Martin Romualdez
ofLe1te, he admitted that he
had been tryin8 to aPProach
Dutefie-Caryio to .make a last-
before the President met the
candidates for speaker in
Malacaflang.
Her father endorsed Cayeta-
no for speaker, under a, term-
sharing setup with Velasco.
Dute €-Caryio said it was
in fait Defensor who reached
out to her and made "last-
proof of my claim. Should I
have anything to say about
what happened on JulY 8, I
will not cowardly hide be-
hind an alleged 'panawagan,''
she added, refeiring to rul''
ing party Partido Demokra-
tiko Pilipino-Lakas ng BaYan
(PDP-Laban) spokesman Ron-

pronouncem€n13 to allow
people to verify the truth of
his claim."
"Cive us the name of the
n€ophyte member of the
House of Representatives from
whom you receivdd a iext mes-
sage with a supposed message
coming from me. A resPon-
sible individual would have
asked me if there is truth to
the text, " she said.
"l reiterate for ReP. Defen-
sor to name his source be-
cause I have a rePutation to
protect and I hive the right
On Wednesday morning,
he clarified that the "anti-
Cayetano" text message he
showed to the media was nei-
ther from Duterte-CarPio nor
a congressman.
Without naming names, he
earlier said it was from the
mayor's "ally."
"l Iapologize] to MaYor
'lnday' Sara lf I have in anY
way offended her... t did not
say it-came from her or a con-
gressman... I did sat though,
thht there was another Person
who got the same message.
'1r
minute request Piior to 'the
Cayetano'endo$ement.
"As for continuedly Isic]
asking Mayor IndaY S ara
through attorney Charo Mun-
sayac, I admit to this.fact. I
didn't want to bother attomey
Charo, who is my lawYer and
a good friend of the maYor,"
Defensor said,
"The speakership fighthas left
me and many ofmy colleagues
confused and nonplussed on
the matter," he added.
Duterte-Carpio said she
was not in "panic" hours
I
minute requests" for Leyte
Rep. Martin Romualdez, to
which she said she "will not
interfere in the matter."
"After the meeting, Rep.
Defensor reached out again
and I recognized that he was
trying to light a fire about the
term-sharing decision that
came out of the meeting last
Monday. I played dumb to end
the conversation," the Davao
mayor said.
"l have attached the screen
capIture] of this convemation
with attorney Munsayac as
ald Munsayac.
The PDP-Laban earlier chose
Velasco as its candidate for the
speakership race over Cayeta-
no, Romualdez and Davao del
Norte Rep. Pantileon Alvarez.
Duterte-Carpio and her
brother Davao Rep. Paolo
Duterte, meanwhile, formed
the'Duterte Coalition" in
the House of Representatives
with eight other Davaoeflo
lawmakers to support Davao
Rep. Isidro Ungab's bid for
speakership.
CATHERINE S. VALENTE

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