MANILA – Presidential daughter and Davao City mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio instigated the ouster of Rep. Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez (Davao del Norte, 1st District) as Speaker of the House of Representatives, a lawmaker told this writer on Wednesday.
Duterte-Carpio, through Special Assistant to the President Christopher “Bong” Go, called allied lawmakers to hatch the plan, said the congressman from Luzon.
“Hindi ka naman kasi talaga makakatanggi kapag si Inday Sara na ang humiling niyan,” said the lawmaker, an ally of newly elected Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. “Ang sabi pa nga ni (Bong Go), huwag daw ipapahiya si Inday Sara.”
According to the lawmaker, Duterte-Carpio has had enough of Alvarez after learning of what the latter said to a group of businessmen in a meeting at the House recently.
“Ang sabi raw ni Bebot sa mga negosyante he is not beholden to or under the control of the President kaya huwag raw magsusumbong kay (Duterte) kasi siya raw ang boss sa Kamara,” said the congressman, who requested anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the issue.
Before this, Duterte-Carpio and Alvarez figured in a “word war” when the latter said during a speaking engagement that, being the House Speaker, he can impeach President Rodrigo Duterte anytime.
In a cable news channel interview, Rep. Fredenil Castro (Capiz, 2nd District) said Duterte-Carpio played a “very vital” role in the ouster of Alvarez.
“I think her (Sara’s) role was very vital in the turn of events because heads of political parties would not support Speaker Arroyo unless she doesn’t know the President had something to do with it,” Castro said.
“I can only assume they made their own individual assumption – that it is the President’s daughter calling us and therefore, how would the President take it against us if his daughter is trying to call us to support GMA on the matter?” he added.
Arroyo formally replaced Alvarez during an election that saw her garnering votes from 184 of the 238 representatives present in a special session Monday evening.
But her election was considered sneaky. Some of her colleagues already voted for her that afternoon – after the House session adjourned at noon and when Alvarez left the plenary hall to fetch President Duterte, who was scheduled to deliver this third State of the Nation Address (SONA).
The legitimacy of the voting was questioned, leading to the hour-long delay to Duterte’s SONA. The voting was repeated in the evening./PN
