Fredenil Castro installed as new House majority leader

Capiz Representative Fredenil Castro on Monday was installed as the new majority leader of the House of Representatives.

The development came after Camarines Sur Representative Rolando Andaya himself nominated Castro to the position he previously held, effectively stepping down from the post.

During the plenary session, Andaya manifested that while the House has been successful in passing important laws during the six months he was the majority leader, the chamber has yet to finish one major business — the passage of the 2019 national budget.

Andaya, as chair of the Committee on Rules, launched an investigation into the supposed anomalies in this year's budget, which he claims is "marinated in flood control funds, or drowning in DBM (Department of Budget and Management)-inserted infrastructure projects."

This inquiry has been moved from the Committee on Rules to the Committee on Appropriations, following Andaya's motion.

"The duty of preparing this annual catalogue falls upon us. The duty to apportion tax payments falls on us. The division of labor, when it comes to appropriations, is that the Executive proposes, and Congress disposes," Andaya said.

"This is the next field of assignment I want to volunteer to. I have done my part in the Rules committee. From the perch of the majority leader, I would like to go down and be involved in settling the great unfinished business of this House, the national budget.  It is akin to move from the GHQ to the frontlines," he added.

As he stepped down from his post, Andaya nominated Castro to replace him, whom he said is his "first choice" and "best choice" for the job.

"He may have gone to the wrong law school but still I nominate this famed law professor, this feared trial litigator, this bemedaled sportsman, this veteran lawmaker, whose sartorial style is as elegant as his oratory, as the Chairman of the Committee on Rules," Andaya said.

"He is a hard worker and fits the role, for, above all, he rightly sees the position for what it really is: Not about power nor perks, for there are none, but for the diligence and the diplomacy and the work it requires, of which there are many," he added.

Andaya, meanwhile, will assume the chairmanship of the Committee on Appropriations, which former Davao City Representative Karlo Nograles vacated after he was appointed as Cabinet Secretary.

In response, Castro said he would try to reciprocate Andaya's "kindness" by picking up where he left off.

"What I could only reciprocate is that I will try my best to fit his shoes. I will try my best on how to serve the House of Representatives within my humble capacity," Castro said.

"What I could only reciprocate to the kindness in words and in deeds of the gentleman from Bicol is to pledge that I will start from where he left with the intention to accomplish what he could have accomplished had he continued to become the Majority Leader of this institution," he added.

Earlier in the day, Castro said the leadership change was finalized long before Andaya assumed the leadership of the majority bloc of the Lower House.

"It's part of an understanding between two gentlemen," Castro said.

Castro said, however, that Malacañang has nothing to do with the looming change of leadership in the House of Representatives. — RSJ, GMA News