President Rodrigo Duterte will no longer intervene in favor of Marinduque Representative Lord Allan Velasco after the House of Representatives voted to keep Alan Peter Cayetano as House Speaker, according to Malacañang.

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“Katatawag lang po sa akin ng Presidente at sabi niya, ‘Stay out tayo diyan. No comment tayo diyan. That’s a purely internal affair of the House of Representatives,'” said Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque on Wednesday, September 30, in a PTV4 interview.

(The President just called me. He said, “Let’s stay out of that. We won’t make any comment. That’s a purely internal affair of the House of Representatives.”)

“This means the President respects the votes,” continued Roque in Filipino.

The majority of lawmakers, 184 in total, rejected Cayetano’s resignation, which he offered during a privilege speech at the plenary session on Wednesday.

The night before, Duterte met with Cayetano and Velasco in Malacañang where he asked his House allies to respect the term-sharing deal the President had brokered with the two rivals.

Velasco’s camp may have thought it a done deal, hence statements from them that he was set to become Speaker on October 14. In his privilege speech, Cayetano said Duterte had actually asked Velasco if he could become Speaker at a later date, in December, in order to ensure the swift passage of the 2021 national budget. Velasco had insisted on October 14.

Roque said Duterte’s decision not to step in after the Wednesday voting is consistent with the Chief Executive’s earlier stance that while he wants both lawmakers to respect the term-sharing deal, he could do nothing if Velasco “does not have the numbers.” – Rappler.com