The chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations and head of the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal delegation were replaced yesterday amid rumors of another coup d’etat for the speakership.
Removed as appropriations panel chair was Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab while Oriental Mindoro Rep. Doy Leachon was unseated as head of the HRET delegation.
Replacing Ungab was ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Eric Go Yap while Kabayan party-list Rep. Ron Salo will take over Leachon’s seat. Abra Rep. Joseph Bernos was designated as new chairman of the House Committee on Games and Amusements vacated by Yap.
House Senior Deputy Majority Leader Cavite Rep. Jesus Crispin Remulla made the motions to remove Ungab and Leachon – as well as designate solons to the vacated post – during the plenary session.
House Deputy Speaker Batangas Rep. Raneo Abu carried all the motions on what appeared to be an impromptu rigodon.
The designation of committee chairmanships is the call of the House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano.
Yap, a neophyte in the 18th Congress, finds himself heading another vital committee in the appropriations panel, which oversees the passage of the national budget bill or the General Appropriations Bill. ACT-CIS was the top vote-getter among party-lists in the May 2019 elections.
Ungab had been Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte’s bet in the tight speakership race.
“I accept my fate and so be it,” Ungab said. “I believe that the only guide to a man is his conscience, and the truth will always prevail no matter what. I have served my country and people well to the utmost of my ability.”
The House top post went to Cayetano, on the condition that he would cede the position to Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan stalwart Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco after 15 months at the helm. (Ellson Quismorio)