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Philippine house ends leadership spat after Duterte budget plea

Published 10/13/2020, 03:58 PM
Updated 10/13/2020, 04:00 PM

MANILA, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Philippine lawmakers elected a
new house speaker on Tuesday, ending a protracted leadership
battle that was threatening to delay passage of a 4.5 trillion
pesos ($92.67 billion) budget vital to rebuilding the country's
battered economy.
Lord Allan Velasco replaced Alan Peter Cayetano as speaker
with support from 186 of the 299-member lower house, ahead of a
four-day special session called by President Rodrigo Duterte to
finalise the 2021 budget.
Duterte, 75, faces the enormous task of pulling the
Philippine economy, which before the coronavirus pandemic was
one of Asia's fastest-growing, out of recession and creating
work for millions left jobless.
The firebrand leader told the lower chamber on Thursday to
settle its row over a term-sharing agreement between Velasco and
Cayetano, both allies of Duterte, to get the budget passed.
"The message has been received, the priority is the budget
not politics," presidential spokesman, Harry Roque. said of the
change in house leadership.
"The president is optimistic (the budget) will be passed".
The Philippines is forecast to see a 6.9% economic
contraction this year, the World Bank has said, the biggest
since the 1980s and worse than the government's projected 5.5%
decline.
Its recovery has been constrained by an unrelenting first
wave of infections since March, with more than 340,000 cases,
Southeast Asia's highest number, limiting its ability to fully
reopen businesses, internal travel and restart domestic and
international tourism.
($1 = 48.56 Philippine pesos)

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