Duterte feels duped by Cayetano's actions on Speakership

President Rodrigo Duterte felt betrayed and "duped" by Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano's actions to retain his position, contrary to their term-sharing agreement.

Duterte expressed his anger and feeling of being deceived in a private meeting with Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco on October 5, stating, "Lord, nadenggoy tayong dalawa" (Lord, we were both duped).

Velasco stated that Duterte was furious over Cayetano's moves, which were aimed at giving the Speaker a reason to renege on his commitment to the term-sharing deal.

Cayetano's allies moved to suspend session until November 16, seen as a tactic to keep him as Speaker past October 14, when Velasco was supposed to take over.

Cayetano had offered to step down during a plenary session, but his resignation was rejected by his colleagues.

Duterte made a surprise television announcement asking congressmen not to let the leadership squabble affect the passage of the proposed 2021 General Appropriations Act.

He hinted that Cayetano's motion for an abrupt second reading passage of the budget measure could be questioned for being unconstitutional.