(Duterte regrets picking Cayetano over Bongbong) MARCOS SHOULD HAVE BEEN MY VP

A FUMING mad President Rodrigo Duterte is sending a strong statement to House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano – he’s no lame duck President, and would never allow somebody he himself “created” to cow him.

In a meeting with top officers from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, the President expressed regret over a decision he made more than four years ago when then presidential candidate Duterte picked Cayetano over former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr., to be his running mate in the presidential election that took him where he is today.

Out of his big disappointment over the most recent moves of erstwhile political ally cutting short on October 6 the congressional sessions that left the proposed P4.5-trillion 2021 national budget hanging, Duterte also hinted on an imminent need for both the AFP and the PNP to be on alert as “he might need their help in making sure that government would not operate on a reenacted budget next year.”

Prior to the meeting, the Malacañang chief executive issued a stern warning to lawmakers to solve the problem among them or “I’ll do it for you.” Apparently losing patience over the leadership squabble between Cayetano and Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco, Duterte said he himself would work for the approval of the proposed national expenditure for next year, even as he boasted of what he is capable of.

“We always forget that there is higher maneuvering in Congress because everybody wants to be Speaker,” said the President who further said that they should not drag him in their problem.

“Huwag niyo naman sobrahan ang laro sa Congress, na ang budget mismo ang ilagay sa alanganin,” he added. Immediately after the public address, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that the President has certified the proposed 2021 national budget as “urgent” and called Congress to a special session scheduled on October 13-16, 2020, to resume the congressional deliberations on what appears to be a crucial bill, designed to equip the government with the much needed funds to overcome the national health emergency.

Duterte, in a meeting two days after Cayetano adjourned House session, admitted that he somehow felt fooled by no less than his 2016 running mate, whom he has appointed Foreign Affairs Secretary after sorely losing the vice presidential derby, then anointed to become House Speaker last year.

A visibly irked President was further angered after the House Speaker reneged on a term-sharing agreement he himself brokered with Cayetano and Velasco dating back in 2016.

The bickering went too far and saw the proposed national budget left un-passed with Cayetano’s early adjournment of the session.

Before his televised address, the President reported uttered words regretting his choice for running mate (Cayetano) over Marcos Jr. Velasco, who met with Duterte privately after the adjournment described the President as visibly enraged.

“Kitang kita ko ‘yung galit ng Pangulo. Sabi sa akin ni Pangulo, ‘Lord, hindi lang ikaw ang napahiya dito, tayong dalawa.’ Actually, the President used the word ‘Lord, nadenggoy tayong dalawa,” Velasco was quoted as saying in a television interview.