House party chiefs tell Duterte: Stop the threats
MANILA, Philippines — In a bold and unprecedented move, leaders of political parties in the House of Representatives on Saturday called out former President Rodrigo Duterte for maligning Congress and threatening to kill one of their own. Lawmakers from the major political blocs in the House said in a joint statement that Duterte should stop “making threats or insinuating harm” against Congress, which supported him for many years. They took “utmost exception” to his statements and said that it was “deeply unfortunate that the former President chose to malign the very institution that for years supported many of his own legislative priorities.” “Our institution, the House of Representatives, has been unwavering in its dedication to the Filipino people,” the House leaders said. “We call upon the former President and all parties involved to avoid making threats or insinuating harm against any member of the House or the institution itself.” The joint statement was released late Saturday night by House Secretary General Reginald Velasco. In a phone interview with the Inquirer, Velasco said the statement was the result of consultations with lawmakers from the House majority bloc. The political parties that issued the statement were the Lakas Christian-Muslim Democrats (CMD), Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan, Nationalist People’s Coalition, Nacionalista Party, National Unity Party, and the Partylist Coalition Foundation Inc. Back in 2016, at the start of his term as president, Duterte got the support of the “supermajority” of the House, including members of the Makabayan bloc. A year later, seven Makabayan lawmakers split from the majority to oppose Duterte’s “fascist, pro-imperialist and antipeople regime.” Last Tuesday, Duterte slammed Congress as the “most rotten institution” for its supposed pork barrel funds — just hours after his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte, lost P650 million in confidential funds for the Office of the Vice President (OVP) and the Department of Education (DepEd) next year. The former president and ex-Davao City mayor also accused Speaker Martin Romualdez of orchestrating attacks against his daughter and said the House chief was planning to run for president. Romualdez is president of Lakas-CMD. Duterte lambasted ACT Teachers Rep. France Castro of the Makabayan bloc and threatened to kill her. Castro, a House deputy minority leader, was the first to call out Vice President Duterte for her P125-million confidential expenses in 2022 and led the opposition to confidential funds for civilian government agencies, particularly the OVP and DepEd, which
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