Manila Standard - 2020 October 14 - Wednesday

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Solons restart budget talks Second reading approval rescinded; less tension as special session opens

By Maricel V. Cruz and Macon Ramos-Araneta

W

ITH a newly elected Speaker in place, the House of Representatives resumed its session Tuesday and promptly rescinded its approval on second reading of the 2021 national budget.

Pampanga Rep. Juan Pablo Bondoc filed a motion to recall the second reading approval of House Bill 7727 or the 2021 general appropriations bill, a motion that was later carried. As of presstime, lawmakers

were only discussing the Department of Social Welfare and Development's allocation for next year, as the session proceeded smoothly without the expected tensions from the rival factions of the House. Newly elected Speaker Lord

All’s well that ends well: Rivals agree to work as one PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte played peacemaker for the last time between Taguig-Pateros Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano and Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco shortly after the latter formally assumed the speakership of the House

of Representatives on Tuesday. Duterte called for the meeting at Malacañang at noon. Wearing sunglasses and a polo shirt, he sat with Velasco, Cayetano, Sen. Christopher "Bong" Go and Executive Secretary

Salvador Medialdea, then joined them It was Duterte who brokered a in flashing their index fingers and fists term-sharing agreement in 2019 for photos to symbolize the renewed where Cayetano would serve as the unity of the administration allies. Next page

Allan Velasco presided over the session as lawmakers heeded the call of President Rodrigo Duterte to hold a special session from Oct. 13 to 16 to ensure the timely passage of the budget bill. Next page

HATCHED BURIED. New House Speaker Lord Allan Jay Velasco (right) flashes the one-up sign as he stands beside his predecessor, Taguig-Pateros Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano, after meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte, Senator Christopher 'Bong' Go and Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea at the Malagos clubhouse in Malacañang on Tuesday. Presidential Photo

Lawyer asks Leonen to inhibit self from Marcos poll protest By Rey E. Requejo SUPREME Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen’s failure to promptly address an electoral protest filed by former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., is more than enough reason to believe he is not capable of judiciously handling a case assigned to him more than a year ago. Lawyer Larry Gadon made the statement as he urged Leonen to inhibit himself from the Marcos’s electoral protest against Vice President Leni Robredo. Gadon also accused Leonen, whom he described as a “Yellow Justice,” of intentionally delaying the process by issuance of a comment that would hasten the case. “Yellow Justice” – while Gadon did not explain what he meant – often refers among political observers to the kind of justice that favors the Aquinos, the arch political enemies of the Marcoses. “Supreme Court Associate Justice Marvic Leonen has prejudged the case of Bongbong Marcos versus Leni Robredo,” Gadon said. Citing a perceived close-

ness to former President Noynoy Aquino, who picked Robredo to run as vice president under the Liberal Party, Gadon categorically accused Leonen of giving preferential favor to the former President who appointed him to the SC. He added that Leonen owed so much from the Liberal Party which worked for his appointment to the high court. Gadon also said that using pandemic as an alibi was unacceptable reason for the 11 long months of delay, adding the court never stopped operating even during the months that the government has imposed hard lockdown in most of the country. Marcos, who narrowly lost to Robredo in 2016, filed a protest, demanding a recount of poll returns from three provinces in Mindanao. The tribunal initially assigned the Marcos case to Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa. However, Leonen took over the case on Oct. 29, 2019. Interestingly, even before Leonen took over the case, he had openly talked about his legal point of view to members of the tribunal, Gadon said. Next page

VOL. XXXIV • NO. 222 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2020 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Velasco finally lords House, Cayetano quits as Speaker By Maricel V Cruz and Rio N. Araja A MAJORITY of the House of Representatives on Tuesday elected Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco as their new speaker, in a plenary

session boycotted by supporters of his predecessor, Taguig Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano. Velasco’s election realized the term-sharing agreement that he had signed with Cayetano in 2019 and thwarted efforts by the former speakNext page er to stay in his post.

MAN ON TOP. Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Jay Velasco (inset) takes his place at the Speaker's chair to preside over the special session to pass the proposed 2021 national budget on Monday as his allies applaud at the session hall of the House of Representatives. Ver Noveno

AFP to beef up WPS monitoring Age group curb By Macon Ramos-Araneta to go out eased ARMED Forces chief Gen. Gilbert Gapay on Tuesday described the situation in the South China Sea as "volatile and uncertain," adding the military would install one of the radar systems from Japan at the closed Matinloc gas platform off Malampaya, Palawan near

the West Philippine Sea. "You see, we (decided that) the Matinloc platform (will) be assigned one of the radars coming from Japan to beef up our monitoring capability in the West Philippine Sea," Gapay said in an online press conference with the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Next page Philippines (FOCAP).

THE government has approved the adjustment of age restriction on persons allowed to leave their homes amid the general community quarantine (GCQ) in Metro Manila from the current 21 to 60 years old to 18 to 65 years old, a Malacañang official said. Next page

COVID-19 PH

FACE TO FACE. House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez (second from left) talks with new House Speaker Lord Allan Jay Velasco (back to the camera), 1-Pacman Partylist Rep. Michael Romero (left) and Rep. Wilter Sharky Palma (right) before the afternoon session at the plenary of the House of Representatives. Ver Noveno

AT A GLANCE

(AS OF 4 PM OCT. 13)

344,713

SMC completes Skyway Stage 3 SAN Miguel Corp. said Tuesday it completed the construction of the 17.93-kilometer stretch of the Skyway Stage 3 project ahead of schedule, linking Southern and Northern Luzon seamlessly. Full story on B4

TOTAL NUMBER OF CASES

1,990 44,958 NEW

ACTIVE

6,372

40

293,383

372

DEATHS

CABINET IN SESSION. President Rodrigo Duterte presides over the 48th Cabinet Meeting at Malacañang Palace on Monday night. The Chief Executive called a meeting to discuss pressing issues and updates from government agencies. Presidential Photo

RECOVERIES

NEW

NEW


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