:.
Tuesday, June J8,2019
iil a neophyte become
the next House speake,r?.
$#i:ti*#ii:iiiffi
neophyte congressman be-
ing catapulted as the next
speaker of the House of Rep-
resentatives may be a pos-
sibilitywhen the 18th Congress opens
next month.
" All that a newbie solon needs is
to solidify all 145 neophytes and get
the support of 12 veteran solons to
join their cause if anybody from the
batch of first-termers is interested
to become the next speaker of the
chamber.
Davao City congressman-elect
Paulo Duterte, a neophyte, has been
touted as a candidate for speaker
when talk about the speakership
heated up shortly after the May 13
elections.
But Duterte, eldest son of Presi-
dent Duterte, quickly denied he is
interested in the position.
After the Davao City sglon, no
other name among the new con-
gressmen-elect has surfaced in the
speakership race.
As of now, those seeking the top
post are veteran legislators, namely:
Reps. Pantaleon Alvarez (PDP-Laban,
Davao del Norte); Lord Allan Velasco
(PDP-Laban, Marinduque); Aurelio
Gonzales (PDP-Laban, Pampanga);
Alan Peter Cayetano (Nl Taguig-
Pateros); and Martin Romualdez
(Lakas, Leyte).
lPacman Party-list Rep. Mikee
Romero's name has also surfaced as
a possible candidate\ith\d strong
chance of winning. But Romero has
previously declared disinterest in the
position.
Romero is the president of the Par-
tylist Coalition Foundation, Inc. whiih
has emerged as the second biggest
polittcal bloc in the Lower House.
House Secretary General Roberto
Maling said nearly half of the number
of members of the 18th Congress are
new congressmen. Maling said a maxi-
mum 145 new congressmen will sit,
but the number may either increase
or decrease depending on the outcome
of electoral contests and the result of
special elections for congressman.
According to Maling, the Lower
House will have a total 305 or 306
qPngc*g'
members who shall elect the next
speaker when regular session re-
sumes on July 28.
The first batch of newcomers,
around 22 of them,were present at a
two-day "Exec.utive Course on Legis-
lation for the new members of the 18th
Congress" that was held at the Lower
House"on Monday.
Maling said the course, which will
also contain orientation on rules of
the Lower House, will be offered to all
neophytes who were divided by three
batches due to the huge number of
newcomers.
The lectures are being conducted
by the Center for Policy and Execu-
tive Development, the University of
the Philippines, and the National
- College of Public Administration and
Governance.
, He rsaid that at the end of the
course, participants are expected
to have "gained knowledge, honed
skills, and im.bibed good values
'on policy making, particularly on
development policy, planning and
programming" as they carry out their
tasks as legislators.