‘Usapang lalaki:’ Velasco says Duterte ‘ordered’ Cayetano to honor term-sharing agreement

Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco seemed to be disappointed with House Speaker Alan Cayetano for not supposedly keeping his end of the term-sharing deal.

In an Instagram post, Velasco has criticized Cayetano over the “political maneuverings and theatrics” that have disrupted the deliberations on the proposed 2021 national.

Cayetano earlier offered to resign but the majority of lawmakers voted to reject such a move and suspended the budget hearings until Friday. The Taguig solon made the move a day after meeting with President Duterte and supposedly agreeing to abide by the term-sharing deal with Velasco.

The Marinduque solon revealed that the President actually “ordered” Cayetano to honor the deal to split the term of the House with him.

“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,'” he wrote on Instagram Wednesday.

He said the President tasked Cayetano to announce the October 14 turnover date since they committed to pass the 2021 national budget by then. The lawmakers also supposedly promised to Duterte “to do nothing else that would disrupt or derail the process.” He said Cayetano agreed “to resign on October 14 and that you will announce this yourself as a gentleman.”

The situation however took a different turn on Wednesday.

Velasco said it was unfortunate that the budget deliberations were suspended over the latest distraction from the House leader.

“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,” he said.

“These attacks and distractions serve no purpose other than to perpetuate what is a purely personal agenda threatening to delay the passage of the budget. This is the truth,” he said.

Velasco urged his fellow lawmakers to pass the budget on or before October 14. “This is the commitment we’ve made before the President, and this is our responsibility to our constituents, to deliver to them a fair and equitable budget,” he said.

Velasco also thanked the President for calling for the September 29 meeting to discuss the leadership issue in Congress. He lauded Duterte’s efforts to bridge differences and unite parties.

“As the Father of the Nation and a true Statesman, the President has once again proven his leadership and steadfast resolve to bridge differences and unite parties regardless of their political affiliations in order for the country to sail in one direction and to prioritize the welfare of our people. Thank you, Mr. President,” he said.

View this post on Instagram

I express my deepest gratitude to President Duterte for calling the September 29, 2020 meeting and bringing together his key allies in Congress despite his busy schedule. As the Father of the Nation and a true Statesman, the President has once again proven his leadership and steadfast resolve to bridge differences and unite parties regardless of their political affiliations in order for the country to sail in one direction and to prioritize the welfare of our people. Thank you, Mr. President. 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.” 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. 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. It is most unfortunate, therefore, that today, deliberations on the budget was suspended. 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. These attacks and distractions serve no purpose other than to perpetuate what is a purely personal agenda threatening to delay the passage of the budget. This is the truth. I call on my colleagues to continue our work and pass the budget on or before October 14. This is the commitment we’ve made before the President, and this is our responsibility to our constituents, to deliver to them a fair and equitable budget.

A post shared by Cong. Lord Allan Velasco (@cong_lord_velasco) on Sep 30, 2020 at 7:45am PDT

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