PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has accepted the apology of former House of Representatives speaker Alan Peter Cayetano over the speakership row that threatened to delay the passage of the proposed national budget for 2021, according to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque.
Quoting Senator Christopher Go, former close aide to the President, Roque said the President immediately accepted Cayetano's apology during the meeting with newly elected Speaker Lord Allan Velasco.
"The President was like a father to them, according to Senator Bong Go. Cayetano apologized to the President, said he misunderstood the mandate," Roque said.
"A father could accept the apology of a son. All's well that ends well," he added.
Roque said the President was pleased that the House can now focus on General Appropriations Bill, or House Bill No. 7727.
In his Facebook live message Tuesday, Cayetano apologized for misunderstanding the President's directive.
He said he was under the impression that the transition of leadership in the House would take place only after the 2021 budget bill is passed.
Duterte had brokered a term-sharing agreement between Cayetano and Velasco, under which Cayetano will serve for the first 15 months and Velasco will take over for the remaining 21 months of the 18th Congress.
Cayetano, however, tried to hold on to the position by moving to suspend session on October 6, 11 days ahead of the scheduled recess beginning October 17.
As then speaker, Cayetano moved for the suspension of session after moving to terminate the plenary debates on the budget and passing the GAB on the second reading.
President Duterte issued Proclamation 1027 on October 9, calling the House to a special session on October 13 to 16 to avoid any delays in the approval of the 2021 budget.
A day prior to the special session, Velasco's camp convened outside the Batasang Pambansa to declare the position of Speaker vacant and elect Velasco.
Several hours before the special session opened on October 13, Velasco's camp again convened, this time in the House plenary hall, and ratified Velasco's election.
On record, 186 members of the House voted for Velasco but acting Majority Leader Juan Pablo Bondoc said there were more than 200 votes for Velasco out of the 305 members of the House.
While Velasco was giving his acceptance speech, Cayetano went on Facebook Live and verbally tendered his resignation as Speaker. (With Jove Moya/VoxPop Philippines)