(Eagle News) — Malacanang is “ready to work” with the new House of Representative leadership, confident that House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will also support the legislative agenda of President Rodrigo Duterte.
In a news conference, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque described Arroyo as a “staunch ally” of the President even as he refused to comment on whether what happened on Monday afternoon at the House of Representatives — just before 4 p.m., the supposed hour that the President was supposed to deliver his third State of the Nation Address — was proper or not.
“Well, wala na po kaming posisyon d’yan. I don’t think it’s proper to comment as a co-equal branch of government in their own premises,” he said when asked about the Palace’s opinion about the House change of leadership virtually stealing the thunder from the President on SONA day, July 23.
Roque said that Malacanang will respect whatever the lawmakers have decided will be the next speaker of the House which is a co-equal branch of the Executive.
“It has always been the Palace position that we do not interfere in purely internal matters of the House,” he said in a news conference in Malacanang on Tuesday, July 24.
“We are ready to work with the chosen leader of the House of Representatives, and because Congresswoman Arroyo is now the House Speaker, we are of course able and ready to work with Speaker Arroyo,” he explained.
“We have had very good relations with Speaker Arroyo. She was one of the staunchest supporters of the President during the elections. They share the same political agenda so we foresee absolutely no problems in working with Speaker Arroyo,” he added.
When asked if the Palace had foreseen or anticipated the incident of a House leadership coup, Roque said, “Let’s just say that whatever the decision of the House is, the Palace has as always been amenable to accepting the choice of leadership.”
What then happened was that the President’s SONA was delayed for about an hour and a half as he resolved the crisis at the House of Representatives. In the end, it was Alvarez, along with Senate President Sotto, as Duterte delivered his SONA at 5:21 p.m., Monday. Duterte stuck to his script, and his SONA speech only lasted for less than an hour.
-Principle of separation of power-
The Palace spokesperson said that the President as lawyer observes the “principles of separation of power” and “accorded the House full respect as to their choice of leadership.”
Roque even revealed the awkward position he was in as a former lawmaker and now Palace spokesperson when he was “coincidentally” inside the House premises while the House intramurals were taking place.
Roque was already seated in his former seat at the House of Representatives when President Rodrigo Duterte arrived at the House of Representatives on Monday, just before 4 p.m., with Arroyo having already taken her oath as the new House Speaker, which reportedly surprised the President.
/ AFP PHOTO / NOEL CELIS
“So we were in the premises of a co-equal branch of government,” Roque said recalling what happened on Monday afternoon, July 23.
“Minutes before he (the President) arrived, Arroyo took her oath,” he said.
Then House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez welcomed President Duterte when he arrived a few minutes before 4 p.m. via chopper. Alvarez also met the President in the holding area, along with Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, and other House leaders.
Roque said that some of the allies of Arroyo were asking him why it was Alvarez who was with the President in the holding room, while Arroyo was already the Speaker of the House.
He recalled Arroyo’s allies were asking: “Why is he (Alvarez) inside? He’s no longer the Speaker.”
Roque said that at that awkward moment, he told himself, “Oops, it’s time to leave” and left the room.
He said Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea “somehow mediated between the contending parties.”
-Only a door separated Arroyo and Alvarez, recalled Roque-
At that time, Roque said he saw that the both Alvarez and Arroyo were in the same facility as the President.
He went to the office where the President was, and he saw that in the bigger office, Pampanga Rep. Arroyo was there waiting with her supporters, while in the inner office, the President was there speaking with then still House Speaker Alvarez and the Speaker Pro Tempore.
“There was a door separating them,” he said referring to representatives Arroyo and Alvarez.
“There was the bigger office, and the inner office. Sa bigger office, nandoon si CGMA (Arroyo) with her supporters, and inside were speaker Alvarez and speaker pro tempore with the President,” he recalled.
“I don’t think he (the President) talked to them at the same time,” he said.
When Roque realized the awkward position he was in, he said he decided to leave.
“Kaya nga ako umalis e,” he said.
“My presence there was creating more controversy,” he added. (Eagle News Service)
