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<img src="https://cdn.kahimyang.com/resources-9/cayetano-no-honor-sm.webp" alt="Taguig City Representative Alan Peter Cayetano" loading="lazy"/>
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(Taguig City Representative Alan Peter Cayetano)
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That was the end goal, to have Velasco as Speaker - as he should be - until honor deserted Cayetano who did his best to deny Velasco of his turn in the 15-21 term-sharing agreement that they have forged in the presence of President Rodrigo Duterte.


Velasco was to start his term of 21 months on Wednesday, 14 October, based on what was supposed to be a final agreement that was again forged by the President in Malacañang on 29 September. But Cayetano scuttled that accord yet again in less than a day after that not so cordial Palace meeting.


Facing his selected peers at the House (just 25 congressmen), Cayetano offered his resignation in a move that was seen by the more veteran lawmakers as his way to subvert the House rules. It was, in effect, a call for a vote of confidence in reverse. And he got it.

Shrewdly it was claimed by many, however.


Lito Atienza, the former multi-term Manila mayor and now partylist representative of Buhay, slammed Cayetano for employing the dirtiest of tricks by silencing the other congressmen's voice.


"We were muted," he said and thereby called Cayetano a tyrant, a branding that no politician in his right mind would accept, especially for one with a higher political ambition like Cayetano.


Several lawmakers have warned against Cayetano's supposed penchant to go overboard as early as the 2019 choice for the speakership.


Cayetano was a returning congressman after a stint in the Senate, a failed vice-presidential bid and a short membership in Duterte's Cabinet as Foreign Affairs secretary. He came into the House with almost an entirely new breed of leaders.


"They're all young," former Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo described her previous peers.


He came in too strong, seeking Duterte's mediation when he was at the tail end of the choices for Speaker and was able to convince the Chief Executive to hand over him the speakership through a term-sharing deal, which he had no plan to honor and respect.


Another partylist representative, Mikee Romero of 1-Pacman, even publicly claimed that Cayetano would become a dictator in the House. For doing so, he became the first casualty in Cayetano's purging of the House leaders. He was dropped as a deputy speaker.


That was among Cayetano's biggest mistakes. It became easier for Velasco to assemble 187 members of the House with his help - and planes.


Armed with great resolve, these majority of congressmen elected Velasco as Speaker with an aim of bringing honor back in the House.


They cannot live without it.


Other than honesty, honor is a virtue they could not afford to lose.


Cayetano no longer has it.


After suspending the sessions until November 16 so that he could duck the transfer of leadership to Velasco, Cayetano again used the social media to explain that he will not recognize the session that transpired on Monday at the Celebrity Sports Plaza near the Batasang Pambansa.


Such a brave face that for days had worked against efforts to have him replaced - terrified, they claimed.


Cayetano had ordered the Batasan closed to deny the majority of a venue.


Another lawmaker is said to have run away with the official House mace. That's why the majority recognized a new mace as the third House mace that exists today. The other copy, the oldest one, is in the House archive.


One hundred and eighty-seven congressmen could not be denied of their collective voice, however.


It was time for Cayetano to vacate the speaker's seat.


On Monday, October 12, 2020, he brandished the very thick copy of the proposed 2021 national budget to say that it needs to be passed to the Senate after the third and final reading. He did not take time to explain why he delayed the budget by suspending the sessions, which no less than the President had ordered to reopen.


The President's date for the reopening of the sessions should be today, October 13.


Cayetano should have heard and read Mr. Duterte's language in all times that they have talked.


It was clear that the President wanted their word of honor by following the agreements he had forged.

Honesty, honor is a virtue a leader could not afford to lose, Cayetano no longer has it