In his final act as Minority Leader, Manila 6th District Rep. Benny Abante Jr. on Friday delivered the Minority’s turno en contra and announced that he would be joining the Majority after expressing confidence in the new leadership of House Speaker Lord Allan Jay Q. Velasco and his “pro-people” agenda.
At the tail-end of his speech, Abante, who served as Minority Leader in the first 15 months of the 18th Congress, said that he had “full trust in the new leadership in its pursuit of a legislative agenda that is not only pro-people, but more importantly, responsive to the need to provide effective and sufficient interventions to control the COVID (coronavirus disease) pandemic.”
“On the instance that the Majority Leader favorably acts on this prayer, I trust that the Minority family will judiciously choose their next leader.”
“And there is no better symbol of this trust than an expression of intent to join the Majority so I could be more proactive in providing urgently-needed legislation and Congressional oversight.”
The lawmaker added that “on the instance that the Majority Leader favorably acts on this prayer, I trust that the Minority family will judiciously choose their next leader.”
Abante thanked his former colleagues in the Minority for their support, and said that the decision to step down as the Minority Leader and leave the Minority Bloc was difficult “as I have come to think of the Minority Bloc as my extended family here in the House.”
“Marami po ang ating pinagdaanan, and I will always cherish the time we worked together,” the longtime pastor stressed.
“There are more things that unite us, there are more advocacies we share, and there will always one thing that will always bind us together: our desire to serve our people.”
Addressing the members of the Minority bloc, Abante said, “tulad ng lagi kong sinabi, magkaiba man ang partido natin, o ang paniniwala natin, o ang idelohiya natin, there are more things that unite us, there are more advocacies we share, and there will always one thing that will always bind us together: our desire to serve our people.”
Citing the Bayanihan laws produced by the House, Abante pointed out that “in the passage of these measures, the members of the House set aside political agendas, ideological differences, and personal interests para po sa kapakanan ng ating mga kababayan.”
According to Abante, under the leadership of Speaker Velasco, “this representation has faith that in the face of the challenges faced by our people, the members of the House will once again coalesce, find common ground, and act in unison for the good of our countrymen.