SB Remains!

MANILA (Updated 12:40 p.m.) -- Quezon City Representative Feliciano Belmonte Jr., a member of the ruling Liberal Party (LP), was elected to another term as Speaker of the House of Representatives on Monday.

The close ally of President Benigno Aquino III got 245 votes to regain control of the 280-member chamber.
This is Belmonte's third non-consecutive term as head of the chamber. He was elected Speaker in the 15th Congress. He led the House of Representatives in January to June 2001 during the term of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. 

LP Secretary General and Western Samar Representative Mel Senen Sarmiento nominated Belmonte in the opening session of the 16th Congress, where 267 out of the 289 members showed up and responded to the roll call.

"The 15th Congress was an active partner of the administration in achieving milestones and in creating policy foundations that now spur the momentum for economic growth," Sarmiento said.

Representatives Enrique Cojuangco (Tarlac), Rolando Andaya Jr. (Camarines Sur), Sharon Garin (Aambis-Owa), Marlen Abigail Binay (Makati City), Franz Alvarez (Palawan), and Rodolfo Farinas (Ilocos Norte) seconded Belmonte's nomination.

"It is apt to choose a leader who will bring the best in us in the next 1,000 days and boost our chances of being rehired or fired," Andaya said.

Representative Ronaldo Zamora (San Juan City), meanwhile, was elected House Minority Leader after falling behind Belmonte in the speakership race. Another candidate, Leyte Representative Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, was third in the tally.

Under the rules, the nominee who gets the second highest number of votes will be designated as Minority Leader.

Zamora was appointed Executive Secretary during the term of former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada in 1998.

The new Minority Leader was also one of the candidates for the highest post in the Supreme Court (SC) after former Chief Justice Renato Corona was ousted by the Senate impeachment tribunal.

Romualdez, the nephew of Ilocos Norte Representative Imelda Marcos, was all set to assume the responsibility of former Minority Leader Danilo Suarez. Both are members of Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) of former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Romualdez, however, lacked the numbers to outvote Zamora. He only got 16 votes compared to Zamora's 18.

Over the weekend, the seven-member Makabayan bloc bolted the majority coalition and threw its support behind Zamora. The group said it found common grounds with the returning congressman in the issues of national industrialization, modernization of agriculture, and the release of all political prisoners.

Those who voted for Belmonte as Speaker are automatically members of the majority coalition while those who voted for Zamora will compose the minority bloc.

Navotas Representative Tobias Tiangco, a member of United Nationalist Alliance, abstained from voting. He said he'd rather go independent. (Kathrina Alvarez/Sunnex)


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