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Manila Bulletin devider devider Arroyo unperturbed by coup rumors allegedly hatched by Duterte's economic managers

Arroyo unperturbed by coup rumors allegedly hatched by Duterte's economic managers

Published Dec 21, 2018 05:10 pm
By Ben Rosario True or not, rumors that the Duterte administration’s economic managers are attempting to oust her have failed to unnerve former president and now Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during the opening of the Third Regular Session of Congress on Monday. (Jansen Romero / MANILA BULLETIN) Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during the opening of the Third Regular Session of Congress on Monday.
(Jansen Romero / MANILA BULLETIN) A veteran of nearly a dozen coup and impeachment tries during her presidency, Arroyo neither confirmed nor denied that President Rodrigo Duterte’s most trusted economic advisers made a bid but failed to gather votes to unseat her as House leader. “You know reports, reports, reports. Those are all rumors so why spend so much time and emotion on them,” Arroyo told reporters during a trip to her turf in Porac, Pampanga Friday. Arroyo said she intends to talk to Duterte, but not to find out whether there is any truth to the rumor. The speaker said she will be discussing with Duterte the fate of the Road Board. “I have to consult the president on that,” Arroyo responded when asked whether or not the Lower House leadership is standing firm on its decision to rescind the final approval of House Bill 7436 proposing to abolish the Road Board. Authored by Duterte’s PDP-Laban partymates in the Lower House, HB 7436 was passed on third and final reading in the chamber only to be recalled before Senate could adopt it, and approve its passage. Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno claimed that Duterte was supportive of the abolition, but House officials scoffed at the Cabinet official’s statements as his way of diverting public attention from moves seeking his ouster. Details of the Cabinet-sponsored ouster bid against Arroyo was allegedly revealed by a senior administration congressman who claimed that Duterte’s most trusted economic adviser has been tagged as the alleged mastermind. Reports said the ouster try fizzled out even before it could gather steam because no congressman wanted to be part of it. The Cabinet men reportedly plotted to bring down Arroyo in retaliation for her failure to guarantee cooperation in preventing Lower House scrutiny of the “president’s budget”. Indeed, the House took more time than usual in passing the proposed 2019 General Appropriations Act as congressmen discovered P51.5 billion in so-called “parked pork barrel” concealed in congressional districts of favored congressmen. Immediately, House leaders moved to re-align the questionable funds then initiated a congressional investigation that saw Diokno undergoing intense grilling during a Question Hour staged on the House plenary hall. Diokno later admitted that P75 billion, and not just P51 billion, had been included as additional infrastructure fund in the proposed P3.757 trillion national budget. Arroyo was elected speaker in July following a coup staged by administration congressmen against then speaker, Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez. Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte has been tagged as the brains behind the Alvarez ouster.
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