(Eagle News) — So be it.
This was the reaction of Davao del Norte Rep. Antonio Floirendo after he was removed from the powerful Commission on Appointments on Monday.
In a statement, Floirendo said from the very start, his position at the CA was “at the behest of the Lower House leadership.”
“If the House leadership deemed me as no longer needed in the CA post, then so be it,” he said.
He said he would “continue to serve (his) constituents,” who he said were his “utmost priority over anything else.”
He said he had no plans of seeking a higher position.
“As I continue to serve my people, I always continue to throw my support to the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte,” he said.
“Positions may come and go but my brotherly love for Digong will remain forever. He is family and family stick together till the end,” he added.
In a motion during Monday’s session at the House of Representatives, Deputy Majority Leader Juan Pablo Bondoc ousted Floirendo and replaced him with Zamboanga del Norte Representative Seth Frederick Jalosjos.
Not one of the 229 lawmakers present expressed any objection.
Floirendo was among those absent during a vote on the death penalty bill on March 7.
Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez had earlier vowed to remove from the CA the lawmakers who would vote against the bill, and those who would not take part in the voting.
Floirendo and Alvarez have also been at loggerheads after a supposed confrontation between their girlfriends in 2016.
Alvarez has initiated a probe into a joint venture agreement between Floirendo’s Tagum Agricultural Development Company Inc. (Tadeco) and the Bureau of Corrections (Bucor).
Alvarez also filed a graft complaint against Floirendo before the Ombudsman in connection with the contract that was allegedly disadvantageous to the government.
