By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

Negros Occidental Commission on Human Rights (CHR) head Romeo Baldevarona yesterday said that he is happy Davao del Norte first district Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez was ousted as speaker of the house.

In a radio interview yesterday morning, Baldevarona said Alvarez needs to learn from the mistakes he made during his term as speaker, such as disrespecting his peers in the House of Representatives.

He believes Alvarez’ demands may have been too much for his fellow legislators.

“He thinks he owns the congress,” Baldevarona said. “It is the reason why his own allies turned their backs on him.”

The local CHR also criticized Alvarez for campaigning for a P1,000 CHR budget last year.

Former president, Pampanga second district Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, was elected as the new speaker, who Baldevarona hopes will use the opportunity to “make up” for past corruption allegations.

Following President Rodrigo Duterte’s State of the Nation Address earlier this week, the House of Representatives resumed session and voted to remove Alvarez as speaker.

Arroyo secured 184 affirmative votes, with 12 abstentions.

All Negros Occidental representatives voted in favor of Arroyo, except Fourth District Rep. Juliet Marie Ferrer, who is on official leave./DGB, WDJ