As the 20th Congress officially convened on Monday, July 28, Davao City 1st District Rep. Paolo “Pulong” Duterte reportedly walked out as members were voting for the Speakership race.
Although Duterte had initially refused to be interviewed, he eventually released a statement, explaining his decision not to cast his vote for the 20th Congress' Speaker, including his refusal to join the Minority Bloc.
“I did not vote for Speaker and I did not join the so-called Minority because I refuse to take part in a political circus that has long forgotten who it is supposed to serve—the Filipino people,” his statement read.
Duterte stated that he walked out as Davao City’s representative, not as “political puppeteers nor the self-serving actors” that pose as public servants in Congress.
“I will not lend my name nor my vote to any side that treats leadership as a prize, not a responsibility,” he wrote.
The Davao City representative described the situation as a “game of thrones” that is being played at the expense of the people. According to him, the public deserves better than “political charades that reek of ambition, betrayal, and manufactured allegiances.”
“The House of Representatives today looks less like a chamber of the people, and more like a hollow theater where the script is written by the powerful and the rest are left hanging,” he emphasized.
Duterte ended his statement saying that he ran for Congress to represent the interests of his constituents, along with the courage to walk away from what is wrong.
On Monday, RH Milky Rigonan reported that Duterte had walked out of the plenary during the House members' voting for the Speakership race, after Leyte 1st District Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez was re-elected to the said position.
