Ylakqla
Business
Monday, July t,2Ot9
Pulong slams speaker
bets for 'playing dirty'
BY WEI{DEIJ. VIGILI,A
PRESIDENTIAL son Davao
City Rep. Paolo "Pulong', Duterte
yesterday admonished bickerinq
speakership candidates for allecri
edly playing dirty to secure th"e
House of Representatives, top
POSltron.
The young Duterte told the
speakership bets to avoid draqgitrg
him inro their "dirry. disc;iioal
tory and rude" politics.
PULONG
it already had President Duterte,s
blessing.
cayetano, a formef senator and
foreign affairs seiterary, was nor
immediately available for com-
ment.
Cayetano, in a mdio intervierv
last Fddali said it was Rowena who
broached the idea of term sharinE
which *re President late, upprol..dl mayed after rhe President r:eiter-
He called Rorvena the "eirl Fridarr'
of bushessman Ramo"n Ang, rL. choose his speakership bel
plesident of San Miguel Corp.
Cayetano, who is from the Na
cionalista Pafty, said Velascq who fup. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez
was Eelded by some leaders of the
. of Lakas-CMD, who is reportedll
tuling PDP,Laban, has to explain the choice of many congressmen.
why he denied that there was a
term-shadng agreement when the divided after some PDP-Laban
Ptesident had already admitted that
he suggested the scheme to put an decision to sign a manifesto of
end tl-te speakership race.
"I don't think anyone of us have
a dght to call the President a liar.
So kinumpirma na ng pangr:lo na
Insbht
"Kung sino man ang gusto na
idamay ako sa usapin ng speaker-
ship sa House of Repfesentatives
huwag po ninyo akong gamitin.
-Huwag po aag pangalan ko. Iabas
po ninyo ako sa inyong marurni,
mapanghamak, bastos, at naka-
kawala ng respeto na uti nq pulitika
(Arybody who wanr, to dirg *y
name in the issue for soeaker of
the House, please dont use me.
oot my name. Don't ioclude me in
your dirty, disdainfi:l, vulgar and
maJ'roong term shadng and then
ang sasabihin niya (Velasco) *rete's
no such term sharing," he said.
There was aiso a report over
the weekend that the President,s
son was turned off after seeinq
Rowena staring ar his father durine
the dinner rhar he hosted for neol
phyte lawmakers in Malacaians
lastJune 18.
Rou'ena was reportedly dis
ated that he would no longer
Aside from Ca1'etano and Velas
c., also running for speaker is lrlte
The administration coalition rvas
members opposed theit leaders,
support for Velasco's.bid. .
Paolo said that while he is a
neophl.te lawmaLer, he reminded
colleagues to be more careful in
\\ #{Aouil{ ileklsa
disrespectfirl brard of politics).
"Magkaibigao ra)-o, pero ang
pagkakaibigan oa iro ay mav limi-
tasyon flWe are friends but our
friendship has iimitations),,' he
said, adding his friendship sith
the contenders does oo, g,te tha-
the dght to malign their rirals and
their spouses.
",4,ng pagkakaibiga-o natin a,;
di lisensya para gamidn moyo alio
upang sirain ang ini-ong kataban,
bastusin ang kan;ang asava o alrg
choosing the next speaker
"Pilin po natin ang Iider na may
respeto sa kapwa, lalo na sa babae
kahit na asawa pa rnan
-kanyang kalaban. Pilirn poitonatin
ng
ang Jider na ang interes a1' hiqdi
pansadt, ti1'ak na maninindigan
at tunaY na aaialav kay Pangulong
Duterte at sa kanlang adminis-
ttasyoo pala isulong ang tunay
at positibong pagbabago sa adng
brnsa," he said.
The proposed term-sharing in
the speakership race is dead fol-
lowing *re consistent position of
Plesideot Duterte not to endone a
candidate and even tasked fotmer
Speaker Gloria trIacapagal- troyo
to choose her successor- lau-,makers
said yesterday.
Capiz Rep. Fredenil Castro said
the term sharing between Cay
etano and Velasco is non-existent
nov.that Duterte has stressed that
he srill not pick one among his
closest allies.
"Insisting on term sharing
kanyang pamrlya lOur friendship
isnot a license that vou can use ro
malign your rivals, his wife or his
family)," Paolo said in a statement.
The President's son was obvi
ously taking a swipe at Taguig-
Pateros Rep. Alan Peter Cayerano,
who earLer revealed that trIarin
duque Rep. Lord AIan Velasco and
hin- his wife Rowena backed out of
their term-sharing agteement even
See PULONG ) Page 83
indicative of weakness, if not
political sloth. They want to be
spoon-fed, bereft of any mandate
from members of the House of
Representatives," Castro, ptesident
of dre National Uniry Party Q.JLTP;
and former majoriry leader, told
iePorters.
Ang Kalusugan patty-list Rep.
Mike Defensor said each member
of Congress should be allowed to
vote for the candidate they thinl is
best to lead them.
Orienta.l Mindoro Rep. Salvador
Leachon said "(entedng into a)
term sharing (agreement) abdicates
from membets their suoreme free-
dom to choose their lelder."
He said the three-year term of
congtessmen "is in fact one of tle
worst attributes of the Constitu-
tion it does not address continu-
as
ity but mote so, disrupts existing
good ptograms that incumbents
wish to implement - splitting it
mofe to two makes insensible
is house leadership."