I hate to break it to my friends over at Congressman Alan Peter Cayetano’s camp, but like Congressman Lord Allan Jay Velasco, it seems they counted their chicks way before the chicken laid the eggs.
As political observer Albert C. Lim put it in my interview with him on my Youtube Channel Social Media Soup, “Nothing is final until congressmen vote on the opening of the Inaugural Session of the 18th Congress.”
The rules of the House of Representatives dictate that the, “The Speaker shall be elected by a majority vote of all the Members of the House at the commencement of each Congress and whenever there is a vacancy in said office. In such election, the Secretary General shall call the roll and record the viva voce vote of each Member.”
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Viva voce is a term that I and many others take to mean that congressmen on the morning of July 22 will have to literally say who they are voting for as House Speaker.
Nothing that anyone says matters until a majority of our congressmen have voiced their vote for one of the House Speaker nominees.
All the propaganda coming out from Congressman Cayetano’s camp and even President Duterte’s announcement that Cayetano is his choice for House Speaker could still prove worthless.
Proof of this is the fact that some congressmen have signed petitions of support for all three nominees for House Speaker.
This is understandable because their main interest is to work for their respective constituencies, no matter who the House Speaker is.
As another political observer put it, “It would be rude to refuse to sign a petition of support for one of the nominees, especially if you are cornered by a fellow congressman who is supporting one of them.”
Even supposing that congressmen side with either congressman Lord Allan Jay Velasco or congressman Martin Romualdez, President Duterte wouldn’t mind and in fact, encouraged congressmen to vote as they sought fit.
The truest statement that came out of the House Speaker race actually came from Romualdez supporter Anakalusugan Party-list representative Mike Defensor when he said that each congressman should vote according to their conscience.
Defensor’s support for Romualdez is based on principle. As a representative of people pushing for better health care as well as expanding benefits for Persons With Disabilities, Defensor supports Romualdez because their legislative agendas are in alignment — Romualdez championed the passage of the law expanding benefits for PWDs and is known for his “malasakit” (compassion and caring).
Cayetano, according to some, is pursuing the House Speakership because he believes Duterte owes this to him. One rather tasteless and crude article that came out recently was one where it cited Cayetano as one of the biggest contributors to Duterte’s campaign.
Defeated vice-presidential bet Alan Peter Cayetano contributed P71.3 million in tandem ads to the 2016 campaign of Rodrigo Duterte, which is three times higher than his P23.6 million declared net worth in 2015.
Source: https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/08/16/cayetano-donations-to-duterte-campaign-higher-than-2015-net-worth
In the context of Cayetano’s “veiled threats” of bolting the Duterte coalition made to Mayor Inday Sara and other similar news, the surfacing of such details would appear that Cayetano had somehow “bought” the House Speakership with tandem ads.
A friend noted, “Perhaps if he really did sincerely believe in Duterte, he should have bought ads just featuring Duterte and asked for nothing in return, not even an appointment for himself as well as his cronies.”
Writer.
It seems the time has come for Congressman Cayetano to collect. Like any savvy businessman, he expects a return on his investment. If the report on the tandem ads worth 71.3 million is true, then he surely would find a way to recoup it, either as Speaker or as chairman of a powerful committee in the House. Then he becomes, as you said, a Cawatano.
As I had written earlier in my Blog: “the endorsement of Cayetano by Duterte is not a done deal yet. ” Duterte is an experienced politician. He has been in politics for a long time . He knows how the Filipino politicians behave.
We encourage all Congress people, to evaluate the records and past performances of these people running for the position of House Speaker. What are their political agendas ? Do their agendas improve our lives and the country as a whole ? Do they work well with others to promote the good of all ?
It is easy to spot” a political opportunist, running for a juicy position; so that he/she can practice more of his/her political opportunism.
We don’t want another DAP, PDAF , Pork Barrel Bribery, etc… we are tired of the graft, corruption and blatant incompetence of these people !
“Perhaps if he really did sincerely believe in Duterte, he should have bought ads just featuring Duterte and asked for nothing in return, not even an appointment for himself as well as his cronies.”
Unfortunately, Cayetano is no hero/martyr/saint as to ask for nothing in return, and Duterte is not naive so he endorses him and everything is now even.
To believe in “true kindness” is just being naive and a recipe to exploitation.
Yes. I do believe the same. Cayetano is an opportunist through and through. And the way Duterte’s children are acting seem (to me at least) as their way of the Patriach giving lip service of support for him while at the same time claim his children are grown and have their own minds.
Their dissatisfaction with cayetano, vocal or behind the scenes, runs deep, and i do believe there is reason for it (mainly cayetano’s character, or lack thereof).
I honeslty want him to fall flat on his face when the vote comes and cases be filed against him, starting with the brouhaha of his ‘organization’ inserting itself in the games.
Hopefully it bears fruit.
Now, i am not blind to the fact that the Duterte admin, or Duterte himself may have some faults and/or lapses. But at this point in time, his actions and moves really seem to be least amount of evil compared to the rest of the ‘tra-pos’ we have.
Hopefully, he can steer the ship in the right direction and the next president doesnt waste the path that was started/opened up.
True wisdom will enable man to judge other persons with an impartial mind.
But this one is the GOLD:
“In politics there are no permanent friends nor enemies, only permanent interest.”
Kung baga ligaw-ligawan lang yan sa pulitika, walang away o kampihan dyan.
Oh well