Lagman: We are going to fight LP in House Speakership

Their numbers maybe eroding but the former ruling party Lakas-Kampi-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) is ready to fight it out with the Liberal Party for House Speakership. “We have lost our numbers but we are going to fight. The battle is not yet over," Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman told GMANews.TV over the phone. Lakas still has a respectable number of members, Lagman replied when asked how many they are in the party. “Pero hindi kami nagko-concede. Pag nag-concede hindi na lalaban. We are going to fight," he reiterated. (But we are not conceding. If you concede, you’re no longer going to fight. We are going to fight.) However, he admitted that getting the House top post before was “a realistic aspiration but now it’s almost an impossible dream." In June, Lakas-Kampi-CMD decided to field Lagman for the House Speakership. If he wins, he agreed to share his term with Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez. [See: Lakas fielding Lagman for top House post] Majority of the 109 members Lakas-Kampi-CMD either joined or will coalesce with Liberal Party (LP), which is fielding Quezon City Rep Feliciano ‘Sonny’ Belmonte Jr., a former House Speaker. The lawmaker said it has been a tradition in the House that the members shift loyalties and go to the ruling party, which is LP. He said Lakas-Kampi will be having a customized conference on the dynamics of legislation for its members in Clark, Pampanga this Friday. Suarez, on the other hand, said former president and incumbent Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has ordered their allies to cooperate with Belmonte, the most likely Speaker. “The former president asked us to support the House leadership provided that the intention is noble and not a sensitive issue," said Suarez. He added: "We want less debates, more cooperation with the administration. . . Surprisingly, it's not a position showing a fighting stance." He said Lakas-Kampi-CMD will now focus on the measures it would push in the House of Representatives. "We have somehow accepted our role as the minority in the House," Suarez said. Mandaluyong City Rep. Neptali “Boyet" Gonzales II said Belmonte could get as high as 250 votes, which can be considered as the highest number of votes garnered in the election for Speaker. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV