Two-way speakership race shaping up

By Ben Rosario

The speakership race in the House of Representatives is slowly emerging as a tight contest between congress­men Lord Allan Velasco (PDP-Laban, Marinduque) and Martin Romualdez (Lakas-CMD, Leyte).

The ruling PDP-Laban, which boasts of 84 members in the Lower House, has already decided to nominate Velasco as the party’s bet for speaker after Pampanga Rep. Aurelio Gonzales, one of his rivals for the party support, pulled out and instead declared that he is backing Velasco.

PDP-Laban campaign manager Senator Emmanuel Pacquiao bared the selection of Velasco in a teleconference with reporters in Quezon City Wednesday. Gonzales said 60 of 84 PDP-Laban congressmen have committed to sup­port Velasco.

Velasco has also received written pledges of support from 1Pacman Par­tylist Rep. Michael Romero, president of the Partylist Coalition Foundation, Inc.; the Nationalist People’s Coalition, represented by Reps. Michael John Duavit of Rizal and Wesley Gatchalian of Valenzuela City; and Kristine Singson Meehan, representing the Northern Luzon Alliance.

On the other hand, at least 40 con­gressmen gathered at a Quezon City hotel on Wednesday to declare their support for Romualdez.

Among those present were House Majority Leader and Capiz Rep. Fre­denil Castro, president of the National Unity Party (NUP).

Castro’s presence and declaration of support for Romualdez diluted the NUP’s vow of solid backing for incoming Taguig City Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano.

NUP secretary general Reginald Velasco said the fourth largest political group in the Lower House has decided to allow its members to make individual choice for speaker.

“We have decided to cross par­tylines and band together to press for the speedy congressional approval of the President’s priority bills. A single party cannot do it alone,” said Castro.

“This is just the beginning of the spark needed to unite the 18th Con­gress,” he added.

Reps. Joey Salceda of Albay and Wilter Palma of Zamboanga Sibugay were among the PDP-Laban members who joined the caucus called by Ro­mualdez.

Salceda admitted that his support for Romualdez imperils his member­ship in the ruling PDP-Laban.

“Right now we are here to express support (for Martin),” stated Palma.

But when informed that the PDP-Laban leadership has threatened to impose sanctions against members who will not support Velasco, Palma said he attended the meeting to get oriented of Romualdez’s leadership proposals.

The Velasco-Romualdez rivalry has caused the emergence of a splinter group within the formidable Parytlist Coalition Foundation, Inc., the second largest political bloc in the Lower House headed by 1Pacman Partylist Rep. Mikee Romero.

Romualdez’s wife, incoming Tingog Party-list Rep. Yedda Romualdez, and Anakalusugan’s Michael Defensor, are leading the Romualdez faction in the PCFI.

“If the election for speaker will be held today, Cong. Martin, definitely has the numbers,” said Defensor.

Romualdez, for his part, thanked the multi-party coalition for their words of inspiration and encouragement for his speakership bid, saying he was “over­whelmed by the outpouring of support” from his colleagues in Congress.

“I am fortunate to be surrounded by peers who served as an inspiration and encouragement in the many years that I served in Congress. It is an honor to represent them as one of their lead­ers in the 18th Congress,” the veteran lawmaker said.

In a statement, Velasco assured PDP-Laban members that their trust and confidence will serve as his inspi­ration in “bringing about meaningful changes and much needed unity to the bigger chamber.”

More importantly, however, their support will inspire us to focus on crucial pieces of legislation that we need to pass in order to sustain the achievements of the Duterte Adminis­tration, surpass the economic growth of the country and provide better social services to the people,” stated Velasco, chairman of the House Committee on Energy.

“If elected speaker of the 18th Congress as representative of the single most dominant party in Congress and the political party of President Rodrigo Duterte, I assure them that I will remain a consultative and a listening leader, who welcomes his fellow lawmakers regardless of their political colors and affiliations,” he added.

LP weighing option

As this developed, the opposition Liberal Party (LP) is still weighing its options regarding who to support in the speakership race.

This was learned by Manila Bulletin Wednesday despite the eye-catching presence of staunch LP stalwarts Caloocan City 2nd District Rep. Edgar Erice and Quezon City 6th District Rep. Jose Christopher “Kit” Belmonte at the meeting held by Romualdez at Seda Hotel in Quezon City.

“We’re still exploring,” Erice said in an interview after the meeting. “Kailan­gan acceptable yung mga advocacies namin [sa candidates for Speaker] (Our advocacies must be acceptable to the candidates for Speaker).”

“We [previously] had a caucus and the majority of us decided that our preference is to join the Majority pro­vided that we are allowed to express our views, to vote for our advocacies… gaya nung (like the) President’s agenda on death penalty, lowering of minimum age of criminal liability, Charter change, federalism… yan yung mga major is­sues (those are the major issues),” he explained.

Erice echoed this position during the Romualdez-led meeting, where LP and several other representatives of political parties in the upcoming 18th Congress – as well as local leaders from the provinces – gathered under a palpable sense of camaraderie.

In short, all in the room are friends.

Belmonte, secretary-general of LP, left during lunch break while Erice joined Romualdez’s table for the meal upon the insistence of the Visayan.

Erice confirmed that the 18-mem­ber LP bloc has already met with the Velasco camp and raised the same set of conditions. “They both said they will respect our position.”

Meanwhile, the Makabayan bloc is fielding Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate as their bet for speaker, stressing the bloc’s desire to have an “independent” Lower Chamber.

It was ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio who formally announced Wednesday that their candidate for speaker is Zarate after their bloc re­jected moves to support the speaker­ship bids of Velasco, Romualdez, and Cayetano.

Zarate said they are quite aware that they do not have numbers to win the speakership race, citing that his gesture to run for the fourth highest post in the land is “symbolic” and is “an assertion of the voice of our people.” (With reports from Vanne P. Terrazola, Ellson A. Quismorio, and Charissa L. Atienza)

https://news.mb.com.ph/2019/06/26/two-way-speakership-race-shaping-up/

ABS-CBN imposibleng maipasara — kalihim ng KBP

Imposibleng maipasara ang media korporasyong ABS-CBN sa expired na prangkisa lamang matapos ang 66 taon nito sa ere, ayon sa kalihim ng Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas na si Lito Yabut.

Sa panayam sa One News nitong Martes, ipinahayag ni Yabut na wala pang naipasasarang istasyon sa kasaysayan ng Pilipinas dahil lamang sa napaso ang prangkisa.



“There never was a broadcast station that was shutdown because the franchise expired — never in the history of the Philippines. My father knows that, Gabby Lopez’s father knows that. Wala, wala. No such thing,” ani ni Sec. Yabut.

(Wala pang istasyong naipasara dahil lamang sa isang expired na prangkisa, wala pa sa kasaysayan ng Pilipinas. Alam ‘yan ng tatay ko, alam ‘yan ng tatay ni Gabby Lopez. Wala, wala. Walang ganyan.)

Si Eugenio "Gabby" L. López III ang chairman emeritus ng ABS-CBN.

Pag-uungkat ng Pangulo

Sa isang talumpati ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte noong Nobyembre 2018, inilutang na niya na nais niyang harangin ang pagbabago ng prangkisa ng istasyon sa alegasyong “magnanakaw” at “estapador” ito.

Sa parehong talumpati, inungkat din ng pangulo ang hindi raw pagpapalabas ng kanyang TV ad noong pambansang halalan ng 2016 habang ipinalabas naman ang isang patalastas na kritikal sa kanya na binayaran ng kritikong si dating Senador Antonio Trillanes IV.

“You know politics or not politics, shutting down ABS-CBN will never happen. You’ve got the audience who’s going to defend ABS-CBN if it really is a problem. Why are you stopping a network that’s been existing for 65 years?” dagdag ng kalihim.

(Politikal man o hindi, hindi mangyayari ang pagpapasara ng ABS-CBN. Andyan ang mga manunuod na ipagtatanggol ito kung magiging problema nga. Bakit mo pipigilan ang isang network na tumagal na ng 65 taon?)

Noong ika-5 ng Hunyo lamang, hindi lumusot sa Kamara ang pagpapasa ng panukalang nagre-renew ng prangkisa ng ABS-CBN.

Maaaring maghain muli ng franchise renewal ang istasyon sa ika-18 Kongreso na unang magpupulong sa ika-22 ng Hulyo.

Huling naipasara ang ABS-CBN noong kapanahunan ng diktadurya, kung saan dinakip ng militar ang mga brodkast networks matapos ang pagdeklara ng Martial Law ni dating Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

Muli itong nagbalik sa operasyon noong ika-24 ng Pebrero 1986, isang araw bago napatalsik si Marcos sa Malacañang.

“May kita o wala, they’re on-air. When the typhoons come, they’re their even ahead of government institutions. 'Di ba tulungan yan eh? A broadcast media really helps,” sabi ni Sec. Yabut. — Philstar.com intern Blanch Marie Ancla