House majority can meet, elect Velasco on Oct. 14 - Atienza

MANILA - Lawmakers may reconvene in time for Rep. Lord Allan Velasco to assume the House Speaker role despite the session being currently suspended, Buhay Party-list Rep. Lito Atienza said Wednesday.

House session was suspended Tuesday after House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano moved to pass the 2021 budget on second reading.

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Under a term-sharing deal brokered by President Rodrigo Duterte, Cayetano was supposed to lead the House of Representatives for the first 15 months of the 18th Congress and Velasco the next 21 months.

"If the majority of members feel otherwise, we can meet and we can reconvene," Atienza said when asked if he thinks it is impossible for Velasco to assume the speakership on October 14 with the session suspended until next month.

"We can do our own thing by asserting the power of the majority. Hindi puwede 'yung one-man rule kami sa Kongreso. This is a democracy," he told ANC's Headstart.

Atienza said "Malacañang saw everything that happened and they know the repercussions of this."

"If we allow a bully in Congress to rule it over, baka ang next problem nito ay ibibigay na niya sa Malacañang," he said.