Lord to Alan Peter: Our deal was to pass budget before Oct 14 then you resign

Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco slammed Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano for supposedly twisting their “usapang lalaki” or gentleman’s agreement during their meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday night.

Contrary to Cayetano’s claim that Velasco wanted to disrupt the passing of the 2021 budget, the Marinduque lawmaker said the two of them agreed in fact to pass the budget on or before October 14, followed by the incumbent’s resignation and his ascent to the House leadership.

“To Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, it was only last night when you promised to resign on October 14 when the President ordered you to honor the term-sharing agreement. ‘Ito ay usapang lalaki,’” Velasco said in a Facebook post on Wednesday night.

“Moreover, the President entrusted you with the task of announcing the date of the turnover. October 14 was chosen as the date for the turnover because we committed to pass the budget before October 14 and do nothing else that would disrupt or derail the process,” he added.

“Thank you for confirming this in your September 30 privilege speech and for sharing with the body that this is what we discussed during our meeting with the President — that you will resign on October 14 and that you will announce this yourself as a gentleman,” Velasco said.

He said it was “most unfortunate,” that deliberations on the budget were suspended on Wednesday and Thursday.

“Instead of focusing on the work at hand, further political maneuverings and theatrics took the budget deliberations hostage. We lost an entire day, and even tomorrow where you have declared that no session will be conducted, which are crucial in meeting our timeline,” Velasco lamented.

On Wednesday, Cayetano accused Velasco of refusing the President’s request to extend the term-sharing deal until the budget was passed. He offered to resign but the House rejected his resignation.

Source: Latest Politics News Today (Politics.com.ph)