Manila: Philippine President-elect Rodrigo Duterte has formed coalitions with major parties, giving his administration party a majority in Congress.
The move shields him from impeachment and would allow his allies to pass bills to implement the socioeconomic changes that he boldly promised when he campaigned for president ahead of the May 9 polls, sources said.
The Philippine Democratic Party’s-People’s Power (PDP-Laban), which supported Duterte’s campaign, has forged coalitions with four major parties, including the ruling Liberal Party (LP) of President Benigno Aquino.
This would weaken LP’s 117 (out of more than 200) congressmen and majority of senators in the lower and upper houses of Congress, respectively, into a minority.
Despite his victory at the congressional level before his declaration on June 30, Duterte said, “I do not go into coalitions. I’m in the executive. Whether there is a majority or minority for me, I will just go (and do my work).”
In reaction to the clashes of Sen. Alan Cayetano (Duterte’s defeated running mate) and Sen. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel (PDP president) over the senate presidency, Duterte said, “They can talk things over. It should not end up in a power struggle.”
The hardest ally to win was incumbent House Speaker Jose Belmonte of LP, who called on May 23 for the signing of a manifesto of support for Duterte, netting 50 LP members who are expected to join the PDP- Laban soon.
Belmonte promised to sign it after all other interested LPs have affixed their signatures.
“I’m ready to shield him (Duterte) from impeachment threats and help him achieve his goals,” said Belmonte, adding that Congressman Pantaleon Alvarez of PDP-Laban has the numbers to win as house speaker when Congress opens session on July 25.
If Belmonte losses the speakership, he would be the house minority leader of the group that would vote for him. But he might decide not to run for speaker and become the House’s senior statesman, sources said.
This happened after Congressman Danilo Suarez of the United Nationalist Alliance — a party led by Vice President Jejomar Binay who lost in the May 9 polls, told the PDP-Laban, “I will run for speaker, but my objective is to become a minority leader. It will be to the best interest of the administration party to have a cooperative minority.”
These are signs that Mar Roxas of LP and Binay of UNA who both lost in the May 9 polls would soon be Duterte’s allies and party-mates.
