A senior House leader and spokesperson of the House prosecution panel, dismissed claims that changes in committee chairmanships were linked to how lawmakers voted on the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte.
He said committee posts are allocated among political parties and may change depending on internal party decisions.
“The committee chairmanship, it’s allocated per party. Per party yan eh,” House Assistant Majority Leader and Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said.
“So hindi naman pag nalagay ka dyan is forever ka na dyan. Kasi at any given time, membership can actually change in every committee,” he added.
The lawmaker issued the clarification amid suggestions that some House members were removed from key committee posts as punishment for voting against Duterte’s impeachment.
The Lanao del Sur legislator said changes in committee leadership happen regularly, but the impeachment issue has led some observers to connect the recent movements to the vote.
“So yung mga changes, it happens regularly. It is not something that happens now, it happens regularly,” he said.
“Nagkaroon lang ata kasi ng issue ng impeachment, that’s why many are trying to associate that changes in the committee chairmanship of the result that came out during the voting,” he added.
He said political parties ultimately decide who among their members will lead or remain in committees assigned to them.
“So I guess it’s more of a party decision because the party actually chooses among their party mates na naka-assign sa isang committee na yan, who will maintain and who will continue as chairman of the committee,” Alonto Adiong said.
The House voted 257 in favor of impeaching Duterte, a result the legislator said showed broad support from lawmakers across the country, including a significant number from Mindanao.
He also rejected the idea that the impeachment vote should be viewed based on whether the House leadership was personally satisfied with the outcome. He said the chamber was performing a constitutional duty.
“Well, una, the leadership understands naman that this is a sacred duty that the House of Representatives has to perform,” Alonto Adiong said.
“It’s very clear naman doon eh. There’s no degree of authority that you can actually use in order to block the progress of a constitutional directive given to the House of Representatives,” he added.
He noted that the issue was whether the House would stand by its constitutional mandate despite political pressure surrounding the Vice President and her allies.
“Whether they’re satisfied or not, again, the issue is whether the House of Representatives will stand by the Constitution or whether the House of Representatives give in to pressures,” he said.
He noted that the impeachment vote showed that lawmakers treated the matter as a constitutional process rather than a personality-driven political dispute.
“It’s not really satisfaction. It’s how we fulfill our duty to the Constitution because this is no longer personality-based discussion,” Alonto Adiong said.
“This is about the Constitution speaking,” he added.