House appropriations panel chair Eric Yap, an ally of presidential son Paolo Duterte, doubts that plans to oust Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano will push through.
“Para sa akin, 99.99% hindi po [matutuloy]. Mamayang hapon po, tingin ko hindi naman mangyayari iyan,”he said in an interview.
[For me, the ouster will 99.99% not push through. I don’t think that will happen at all this afternoon.]
Lawmakers have clashed due to “inequitable” distribution of infrastructure budget among their districts.
“Yung budget, hindi po Congress ang gumawa. Ang DPWH ang nag-identify nito at sinubmit lang po sa amin ito ng DBM (Congress does not make hte budget. The DPWH identifies this then submits it to the Department of Budget and Management),” Yap said.
The lower chamber would not want to derail the budget’s approval, despite their disagreements.
“Kapag idineclare na vacant [ang speakership at deputy speakership] ngayon, magkakaroon ng palitan, magkakaroon ng gulo. Made-delay ang budget, ang tao ang kawawa.”
[If someone declares the speakership and deputy speakership posts vacant now, someone has to take over, and there could be chaos. Budget could be delayed, and the people will suffer.]
