AFTER being deprived of the House minority leadership, Ifugao Representative Teddy Baguilat Jr. vowed to do his role as a “fiscalizer” in the House of Representatives.
“Whether minority leader or not, tuloy pa din ang laban na maging critical at maging fiscalizer,” said Baguilat.
Baguilat made the statement after members of the minority on Wednesday elected Quezon Representative Danilo Suarez as House Minority Floor Leader.
Baguilat described Suarez as the leader of the "majority's minority."
"Condolence (to the) fake minority. Souls have been sold. Friendships will remain but I hope you can look me straight in the eye," said Baguilat in his Twitter account.
The lawmaker from Ifugao said Suarez has "no moral ascendency to become fiscalizer" since most of the lawmakers who supported him were actually lawmakers allied with the Duterte administration.
He said that with the latest development, the House has started to become a “rubber stamp” institution.
Baguilat said the majority bloc “tried to kill democracy in the House” by putting up a “company union” minority composed of lawmakers from their coalition partners particularly from the House party-list bloc.
“This wasn't about self, not about being Liberal Party (LP), not about being anti-Duterte or pro-administration. It was about democracy in congress,” said Baguilat.
He said that Suarez could not be the legitimate "minority" since the Quezon lawmaker himself is a co-author of two priority measures of Malacañang.
“Death penalty and emergency powers to the President, that’s two administration bills. How can Congressman Suarez fiscalize when he's the author of both bills?” said Baguilat.
Baguilat said he and the seven lawmakers who supported him during the Speakership race last Monday was the “true and legitimate minority” and will continue their fight for what they believe is morally correct.
Meanwhile, former LP president and Northern Samar Representative Raul Daza compared the minority leadership row to a “fixed fight.”
“Ang ginagawa ng super majority ay gawain ng mga trapo (traditional politician),” said Daza.
Daza who nominated Baguilat during the election for House Speaker last Monday said what happened to the House minority is “tragic.” (Sunnex)