By Argyll Cyrus B. Geducos
President Duterte on Thursday quelled old rumors that former President now Pampanga Rep. Gloria M. Arroyo will replace House Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez.
Duterte, in a speech in a dinner concert in Pasay City, said that Alvarez can relax as Arroyo is not interested in the post.
“Mukhang si Speaker matamlay. Sabi ni Ma’am, ‘Sabihin mo sa kaibigan mo na wala akong ambisyon maging Speaker. He can rest,'” Duterte said.
Arroyo, who turned 71 on April 5, had said that she was not interested in becoming the House Speaker.
Talks that Arroyo will replace Alvarez surfaced when he got involved in a spat with Davao del Norte Rep. Antonio Floirendo Jr. whom Alvarez sued for graft before the Ombudsman over an alleged anomalous deal.
Arroyo was House Deputy Speaker but was replaced due to her opposition to the measure that seeks to reimpose capital punishment for heinous crimes. “We will have to replace her as Deputy Speaker,” Alvarez said February last year, adding that he remains firm in his stand that House leaders who cannot support to measure will be replaced.
Arroyo has maintained her stand against death penalty since signing Republic Act 9346, the law which abolished capital punishment, in 2006 when she was still President.
