{"id":789604,"date":"2016-06-08T01:11:29","date_gmt":"2016-06-07T17:11:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsinfo.inquirer.net\/?p=789604"},"modified":"2016-06-08T01:11:29","modified_gmt":"2016-06-07T17:11:29","slug":"belmonte-lp-join-dutertes-coalition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinfo.inquirer.net\/789604\/belmonte-lp-join-dutertes-coalition","title":{"rendered":"Belmonte, LP join Duterte\u2019s coalition"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe title=\"Belmonte in talks for LP-PDP-Laban coalition\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pbkT1ug7s8k?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n<p>DAVAO CITY\u2014Still yellow, but of different shade, in a multicolored \u201csuperparty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p>Outgoing Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and other members of the Liberal Party (LP) flew here on Tuesday and met with President-elect Rodrigo Duterte, a development which could further solidify the incoming administration\u2019s hold on the 17th Congress.<\/p>\n\n<p>Belmonte also announced his support for incoming Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez of Duterte\u2019s Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) in the speakership race in the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n\n<p>Alvarez briefly met with the Speaker and his nephew, reelected Quezon City Rep. Kit Belmonte, at the Marco Polo Hotel before they drove off to Duterte\u2019s temporary office at the Presidential Guesthouse in Barangay Panacan here.<\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s got it in the bag,\u201d a smiling Belmonte told reporters, addressing Alvarez, who was standing next to him, as the \u201cincoming Speaker.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p>His statement ended weeks of speculation that he might challenge Alvarez for the speakership or settle as minority leader.<\/p>\n\n<p>Belmonte said the LP, the decimated political party of President Aquino and defeated administration candidate Mar Roxas, opted to coalesce with the PDP-Laban after weeks of consultation with its members.<\/p>\n\n<p>The Speaker said he was aware that some of his party mates had already opted to bolt the LP and join Duterte\u2019s party.<\/p>\n\n<p>Belmonte said LP\u2019s support for Duterte was also in deference to the big number of votes he garnered in the May 9 presidential election.<\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cWith the big mandate he received, I think Duterte is entitled to expect that we should help him (ensure) that his mandate becomes a reality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n<p>Asked if he would leave the LP and join the PDP-Laban, Belmonte said: \u201cWe are talking of a coalition at the moment. We never know what happens next.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cTo tell you frankly, (PDP-Laban) was my first party actually after the Edsa People Power Revolution (in 1986). But others started to organize all sorts of (political) parties,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n<p>To which Alvarez replied in jest, \u201cSo it\u2019s not about (Belmonte) leaving the party, but it\u2019s about him returning to PDP-Laban.\u201d<\/p>\n\n<p>Belmonte said he and Alvarez were still discussing how many LP members would stay with the party and how many would take their oath as PDP-Laban members.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Supermajority<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>According to Alvarez, the new ruling party would have more than 80 members when the 17th Congress opens in July.<\/p>\n\n<p>Besides the LP, he said members of other major political parties such as the Nationalist People\u2019s Coalition, National Unity Party and Lakas-CMD had also assured him of their support.<\/p>\n\n<p>Alvarez said the \u201csupermajority\u201d led by PDP-Laban would have over 200 members in the 290-member House.<\/p>\n\n<p>Told about criticisms regarding political turncoats, Belmonte said the decision of some lawmakers to support the party of the sitting President was not unique to the Philippines.<\/p>\n\n<p>Unlike in European nations, most of which have a parliamentary system of government, having different political parties in the presidential form of government poses difficulties for the incumbent President, he said.<\/p>\n\n<p>Belmonte cited the experience of US President Barack Obama, a\u00a0 Democrat, whose legislative agenda had been blocked by the Republican-dominated Senate and House.<\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cWe cannot afford doing that. We don\u2019t like stalemates. We have to keep on moving,\u201d he said. \u201cAll of us are running on the promise of good governance, but only the President is the one single guy who embodies an idea and leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Reservations<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Belmonte sought to assure Alvarez of the LP\u2019s support for Duterte\u2019s primary legislative agenda.<\/p>\n\n<p>But he admitted that some LP members were adamant in joining the coalition because of their \u201creservations\u201d on the three main legislative matters which Duterte wanted to pursue in Congress\u2014the reimposition of the death penalty, the shift to federalism and the amendment to the law on youth offenders.<\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s very true,\u201d Belmonte said when asked if some LP members raised opposing views during their discussion on joining the coalition.<\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cThere are some (LP members) with reservations on some provisions &#8230; (but) I\u2019m hopeful that we can thresh it out,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cI myself have no problem with it. Some of the members do have a problem with it, (but) we\u2019re confident that we will be able to thresh it out.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DAVAO CITY\u2014Still yellow, but of different shade, in a multicolored \u201csuperparty.\u201d Outgoing Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and other members of the Liberal Party (LP) flew here on Tuesday and met with President-elect Rodrigo Duterte, a development which could further solidify the incoming administration\u2019s hold on the 17th Congress. Belmonte also announced his support for incoming [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":789605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[481,36,34,37,45],"tags":[206079,41955],"byline":[192],"source":[206078],"column":[],"editor":[170633],"videographer":[],"position":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Belmonte, LP join Duterte\u2019s coalition | Inquirer 黑料社<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=pbkT1ug7s8k &nbsp; DAVAO CITY\u2014Still yellow, but of different shade, in a multicolored \u201csuperparty.\u201d &nbsp; Outgoing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/newsinfo.inquirer.net\/789604\/belmonte-lp-join-dutertes-coalition\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Belmonte, LP join Duterte\u2019s coalition | Inquirer 黑料社\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=pbkT1ug7s8k &nbsp; 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