The Manila Times

Palace brushes off Cayetano’s interim arrangement proposal

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Monday brushed off the suggestion of the camp of Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano to have in place interim administrative arrangements, insisting it now recognizes the leadership of acting Senate President Sherwin Gatchalian. Among those being proposed by Cayetano, coursed through lawyer Jose Luis Montes, is the adoption of a joint certification by current officials and those still asserting authority on pertinent documents and official transactions. “Again, the one the executive recognizes is Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian. There is no good in such an arrangement right now. It could turn out just like what happened in the House of Representatives where they already had a term sharing agreement that Sen. Alan Cayetano did not immediately implement," Presidential Communications Office Undersecretary Claire Castro said in a press briefing. Castro was referring to the leadership impasse in the House in October 2020 when Cayetano, who had a term-sharing agreement with Lord Alan Velasco, refused to give up the speakership. A majority of 186 lawmakers gathered at the Celebrity Sports Plaza in Quezon City and declared the post of speaker vacant. They then elected Velasco as speaker.