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)resident to have last say on ruling party's bet for speaker
IESIDIiNT Roddgo Duterte would have
e "final say" in the selettion ofthe Par-
lo Demokatiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan
DP-Laban) candidate for speaker ofthe
)use of Representatives, according to
n. Emmanuel "Manny" Pacquiao.
The senator said the President, as PDP-
ban national chairman, must be given
e"honor, respect" in choosing the party
ndidate for speakershiP.
'lhe PDP-Iaban has three candidates for
eakership in the 18tr Congess: Marinduque
p. lord Allan Velasco, Damo del Norte Fint
strict Rep. Pantaleon Aharez.and Pampang
District Rep. Aure)io C'onzala.
Lird
Asked to comment on the Palace's ear-
lier statement that the President would
not wade into the speakershiP issue,
Pacquiao said, "Acttally I1i naman talaga
nakikiaalam si Presidente (Actually, the
President does not meddle)."
"Pero sa pagbigay ng \onor, respeto sa
ating Pangulo kailangan din niya makaha
'lang basbas niy(Btttto Sive honor, respect
to our President, he Ithe PDP-taban law-
maker lo be chosen lor speakership] muit
get the President's blessings)," he added.
At syentpre si Presidente ang pangulo
ng partido natin kailangan tlin niyang mag-
s\ggest ng kandidato sa speakership (And,
of coune, the President is the head of our
party, he needs to suSSest the candidate for
speakership)," Pacquiao explained.
The senator said he might announce the
party's candidate within the week or before
his flightto the United states on Saturday.
'Napag-usapan kagabi na before ako
umalis tqatapos na itong problema para di
na watak watak yung PDP members (We
agreed last night that before I leaw we re-
solve thid problem so thatthe PDP membe$
are not divided)," he said.
Sen. Aquilino Pimentel lrd, the Presi-
dent ofthe ruling party, has delegated the
taskand responsibilityofannouncingthe
pany's nominee for speaker to Pacquiao
''l have designated Sen. Manny Pacquiao
to be the authorized penon to announce the
s pAqe -Aa"
PDP-Laban nominee for House speaker He
will do so after following an agreed-upon
process," hi said.
'The PDP-Iaban, the party of President
Duterte, is the biggest bloc in Congress,
with more than 94 reprcsentatives on toP
of the panyJist conglessmen allied with
us and, thereforq it is imperative that the
speaker should come ftom PDP-Iaban,"
Pimentel said.
"We will unite behind a single nomi-
nee," he added.
"We will stand united in ensuring that we
will have a speaker who can tuly work not
only with his peers in the House, but also
with the members ofthe Senate" he added
- Pacquiao
Officials of $e pany met with Velasco, I
Alvarez and Gonzales in lacquiao's resi-'
dence in Makali City on Tuesday evening.
1-Pacman party-list Rep. Enrico Pineda
was also present ln the meeting.
The other candidates for the speaker-
ship are Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez of
the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats
and Taguig City Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano
of the Nacionalista Party.
Lawmakers will elect a new sPeaker
who will replace Gloria Macapagal Ar-
royo on July zz, when the t Sthbongres I
[ormally convenes.
BERNADETTE TAMAYOI
AND GLEE JALEA'