Lawmakers in talks to convene House session ahead of November 16

MANILA, Philippines (Updated 4:17 p.m.) — Some lawmakers are supposedly in talks to convene a session in the House of Representatives ahead of November 16, when they are supposed to return from a month-long break, a lawmaker told House reporters on Wednesday.

“There are talks going around already and calls are being made,” Rep. Sharon Garin (AAMBIS-OWA party-list) said in a virtual press briefing.

But she added that House members are still “thinking about it” as the move by Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano (Taguig-Pateros) and his allies to suspend sessions earlier by a week only happened on Tuesday.

The House, along with the Senate, was not scheduled to suspend sessions for a month-long break until October 14. 

Incidentally, October 14 is also the supposed end-date of the term-sharing agreement between Cayetano and Rep. Lord Allan Velasco (Marinduque) brokered by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2019.

Convening a session ahead of the House’s return from a break opens the chance for the camp of Velasco to declare the speakership vacant and elect him as speaker.

But Cayetano ally Deputy Speaker Neptali Gonzales II (Mandaluyong City) said convening a session while the session is suspended would not be possible and would actually be "illegal."

"If they will meet and elect their officers, it will just become a social club because there would be no valid election, since there is a process to be followed on how to elect the speaker," Gonzales told House reporters in a mix of English and Filipino in a separate briefing.

He added in FIlipino, "Session is adjourned. The plenary is closed. I don't know how they will be able to get access there. A lot of things are needed for them to be able to hold a session. It will be an illegal session insofar as the House is concerned."

Velasco's PDP-Laban partymate Rep. Eric Martinez (Valenzuela City) admitted that their camp is still figuring things out.

Still, Martinez and Garin say that they have enough votes needed for Velasco to be elected as speaker.

Martinez added, "15-21 is the way to go, we have the numbers. We will protect the word of the president and the party of the president. We will have the numbers. Let the numbers do the talking."

However, this was countered by Cayetano's camp, which asserted that they have the numbers in support of the incumbent speaker.

Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte (Camarines Sur) even dared Velasco's camp to stop their "psywar" tactics and simply show their numbers, if they have any.

Under the term-sharing agreement, Cayetano is to sit as speaker for 15 months, followed by Velasco for 21 months.

The two men had attempted to settle the term-sharing question with Duterte in a meeting last week, with the president saying that he wants the deal honored.

But the two camps now have different stories as to what happened during the meeting with the president, with the Velasco camp saying that Cayetano is to turn over the speakership on October 14, while the Cayetano camp says no definitive date was agreed upon.