Iginiit ni House Minority Leader Bienvenido Abante noong Oktubre 15 na nakahanda itong ibigay ang kanyang posisyon kay Taguig-Pateros Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano, na pinatalsik bilang House Speaker nitong linggo, kung gugustuhin niya ito.
Subalit, duda aniya si Abante kung interesado si Cayetano.
“Of course, we welcome him on that and sa akin, if he is willing to get the Minority Leader position, I would be very glad to give that,” pahayag ni Abante.
Dagdag pa nito, “If he wants to be the Minority Leader, we’ll talk about it. Pero alam mo, palagay ko, I don’t think he will get that – from being the Speaker of the House, he would like to be the Minority [Leader]. I have not yet heard any statement concerning that actually.”
Batay sa House rules, kinakailangang pagbotohan ang nasabing posisyon mula sa mga miyembro ng minorya, ayon kay Abante.
“At this point in time, it will be the choice of the minority who will become the Minority Leader. At this point in time, there are no changes that is happening. I don’t know who will be interested. But still, it will be upon the minority or others who would join the minority, who actually did not vote for the Speaker (Sa puntong ito, desisyon ng minorya kung sino ang pipiliing Minority Leader. Sa ngayon, wala pang pagbabagong nagaganap. Hindi ako sigurado kung sino ang interesado. Gayunpaman, nakadepende ito sa minoryang hindi bumoto para sa Speaker),” paliwanag ng kongresista.
Dagdag pa ni Abante, “Kung di nila binoto ang Speaker, then they would have the right to be in the minority. Kapag nangyari yan, siguro magmi-meeting kami to be able to choose who will be the Minority Leader. If they still want me to be the Minority Leader, I would want to still be the Minority Leader. I’ll cross the bridge when we get there.”
Hindi naman umaasa ang mambabatas na magkakaroon ng malaking pagbabago sa liderato ng Mababang Kapulungan sa muling pagbabalik ng sesyon sa Nobyembre.
“At this point in time, hindi pa pinag-uusapan yan because syempre, we’re still busy trying to address the budget. Perhaps, pagkatapos niyan, the Speaker Lord Allan will be discussing that,” diin ni Abante.
