Atienza says House minority leaders ‘assigned’ by majority prior to election

Buhay party-list Representative Lito Atienza on Thursday claimed that the leaders of the current House minority bloc had already been "assigned" by the majority even before formal elections were held.

In a media forum in Quezon City, Atienza alleged that the House minority in the 18th Congress, led by Manila 6th District Representative Benny Abante Jr., is "dictated" and "assigned."

Atienza was part of the minority coalition in the 17th Congress of which, he said, their minority leader former Quezon Representative Danilo Suarez was "freely chosen" by them. Former Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez likewise did not meddle with the affairs of the minority, he said.

"Ngayon ay bigla na lang may set of officers. Even before the elections, the Speaker was already announcing the minority leader would be Benny Abante. Saan ka nakakita nun? The winner has already been declared. Daig pa nila ang Comelec," he said.

"The minority leadership was already assigned. Parang binalasa na ang deck of cards, ipre-present na lang pagdating ng tamang panahon. Everything fell according to the script and according to plans," Atienza added.

'Sour grapes'

Abante, however, dismissed Atienza's claims as mere "sour graping."

"I don’t want to belabor on that anymore. I’m not one who will answer such a statement. Let him think what he thinks and we’ll work as we are supposed to work as the minority," he told GMA News Online.

Abante was elected minority leader on Tuesday during a meeting attended by lawmakers who did not vote for the speakership of Taguig City Representative Alan Peter Cayetano.

Prior to that, he was already endorsed to the position by lawmakers mostly coming from the Liberal Party and the Makabayan Bloc in a press conference a few moments before the House opened its First Regular Session on Monday.

Atienza, who abstained from voting in the speakership, also attended the meeting on Tuesday, but he said he "extricated" himself from the gathering as he "saw the script unfolding."

"Sabi ko, 'I'm not part of the script, I will not play any role if I don't extricate myself.' So I extricated myself from the meeting. Kitang-kita mo yung nangyayari and that is not in accordance with the principles of an effective minority," he said.

"Minority in Congress can be constructive, participatory, cooperative but independent. Pero kung ikaw ay miyembro ng script, meron kang papel pati sasabihin mo, e ano pang mangyayari? Sayang ang pagod," he added.

Atienza said he now belongs to the "independent minority"—a position also being claimed by Albay Representative Edcel Lagman.

"Seeing all of this, in conscience, I have decided to be on my own. I am now belonging to the independent minority and that is by myself so I can freely talk about anything and everything that I feel is good for the country, not hampered by any script and not dictated by anyone," he said. — BM, GMA News