ALLIES of Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco could not have chosen a proper time to swap accusations than at the 2021 budget deliberations. Velasco is set to take over as Speaker from Cayetano in October under a term-sharing deal brokered by President Rodrigo Duterte. Cayetano, as the President had wanted, was elected Speaker at the opening of the 18th Congress in July 2019 while Velasco will serve out the remaining 21 months. Teves claimed this was a huge amount compared to the P2 billion allocated to his district. Villafuerte denied that the funding for the Provincial Capitol was “above board” and asserted that the “cutting edge, environment-friendly structure” to replace the long-condemned provincial building” was a necessity.

Source: Manila Times September 18, 2020 16:18 UTC