A MONTH before the elections next May, the House speakership drive is now intense. With the ‘kingmakers’ endorsing their bets, the eventual winner will assuredly be a staunch administration supporter.
Interestingly, this is the first time that close to a dozen prospective lawmakers, some of them with dubious achievements and some relying chiefly on their dynastic alliances, are working their way in for an inside track and get noticed by power brokers.
Obviously, the run for the House top post that is dependent on the support of lawmakers, is not just about prestige; it is also about power, perks, popularity, and the weight their signatures carry when it comes to approving legislative initiatives.
No bill for that matter can be considered approved at the House level without the imprimatur of the Speaker. For observers, a signature can be equated with monetary influence especially if the proposed laws have something to do with, say, franchises.
The struggle to become House Speaker is a manifest display of powerful political connections. It also underscores the fact that as the country’s No. 4 highest post, the authority that goes with it speaks volumes, depending of course on how he/she uses it.
The current roster of House Speaker wannabes has ballooned to eleven, quite an interesting crowd given that in the past there were only two and at most three contenders. Now that incumbent speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has announced retirement from politics, the jostling has become more intense.
The major challengers, all endorsed by the Duterte family, are former Foreign Affairs secretary Allan Cayetano, Marinduque legislator Lord Allan Velasco, Leyte congressman Martin Romualdez, and, only days ago, Davao del Norte lawmaker Antonio Floirendo, Jr.
Also aspiring for the post are Congressmen Ronaldo Zamora (San Juan, MM), Alex Advincula (Cavite), Bambol Tolentino (Cavite), Ricky Sandoval (Malabon), Lucy Torres (Leyte), Aurelio Gonzales Jr (Pampanga), and deposed speaker Pantaleon Alvarez.
Floirendo’s belated entry which was endorsed by Davao City mayor and Hugpong ng Pagbabago founder Sara Duterte-Carpio, has drastically changed the race configuration. His huge financial contribution to Rodrigo Duterte’s 2016 presidential run makes him a frontrunner. The post was in fact offered to him before but he strangely endorsed Alvarez, now his political archenemy.
To win the speakership, politicians, strange bedfellows as they are, often agree on concessions before votes are cast.
