Sara's role in House leadership tussle could put doubts on Duterte's 'strong leadership' — Lacson
MANILA, Philippines — If reports were true that Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio was indeed behind the change of leadership at the House, this would not reflect well on President Rodrigo Duterte's touted "strong leadership," according to Sen. Panfilo "Ping" Lacson on Thursday.
Monday's State of the Nation Address by the president was upstaged by the leadership row that transpired on national television and before dignitaries between Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez (Davao Del Norte).
The contest was so intense and the impasse unbreakable that the State of the Nation Address was delayed by more than an hour and the Bangsamoro Organic Law was not ratified until the following session.
According to Lacson, power or authority being delegated outside of the official chain of government bureaucracy should be discouraged, challenged and checked at the soonest possible opportunity.
Lacson said that allowing this would be a repeat of the experiences during previous administrations during which relatives of presidents intervened and peddled influence, adversely affecting the efficient management of state affairs.
Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, meanwhile, said that he did not believe that Carpio acted on her own and without the blessing, or at least the knowledge, of Duterte.
"Is she a queen-maker? I do not think so. When she speaks, the people assume that she speaks with the authority of her father," Drilon said in a news forum.
He explained that when she supposedly made calls to drum up support for Arroyo, the lawmakers assumed that she was doing it on behalf of the president.
"Nobody believes that you can change the leadership of the House without the blessing of the president of the Philippines," he said.
"In fairness, I have not heard Mayor Sara intervene in matters of bidding of projects in government. In fact, this is the first one that you know, congressmen and the media reports would say that calls were made by Sara," he added.
During the hours leading to the ouster of Alvarez as House leader, several reports said that it was Carpio who planned and supported the move to dethrone the Davao Del Norte lawmaker.
When Arroyo was elected speaker, Carpio was mum about her role and simply congratulated her whom the mayor described as a strong leader.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said the choice of Arroyo could be because of the possible shift in focus on economic reforms of the administration.
Arroyo, the country's first woman speaker, belongs to the prominent political clan of the late President Diosdado Macapagal.
She became president in 2001 when former President Joseph Estrada was toppled on allegations of corruption and cronyism.
She sought and won her own six-year term in 2004, but her mandate was questioned after it emerged that she called an elections official at the height of the counting of votes.
Her popularity never recovered since then, and she was eventually incarcerated for allegations of graft during the administration of former President Benigno Aquino III.
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