Rep. Tan wants explanation from Cayetano for removal

By Raadee Sausa October 8, 2020 Quezon 4th District Rep. Angelina Helen Tan ...

By Raadee Sausa
October 8, 2020

Quezon 4th District Rep. Angelina Helen Tan

LUCENA CITY - The chairperson of the House Committee on Health recently said she would like to hear from Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano why she was removed from her post and found out her removal through social media.

Quezon 4th District Rep. Angelina Helen Tan was the latest committee chairperson to be removed in the escalating power struggle in the chamber as lawmakers approved on second reading the P4.5-trillion 2021 national budget upon Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano's motion.



"Personally, I did not see any reason why I was stripped from my post as a chairman on the committee on health because I was confident that I performed very well on my duties and responsibilities. So, I want to hear from Cayetano's mouth what and why is the reason I was replaced without due notice. I am not a delinquent person who uses position for political reason," Tan said.

"No one [told me], I was shocked. I cannot think of any way I would be removed because I'm working quietly on the committee on Health. Out of all of the House leaders removed, I may be the most surprised as to why I was removed," she said.



Rep. Mikee Romero of 1-Pacman Partylist, an ally of Cayetano's rival Rep. Lord Allan Velasco of Marinduque, was earlier stripped of his House deputy leader title.

The immediate passage of the proposed 2021 budget on second reading without interpellation stifled lawmakers' rights, Tan said.

She said she had hoped to call for the return of some of the health department's slashed funds.

"They give us little time to interpellate and now they removed it," Tan added.

"We are always in support of the immediate passage of the budget but that was the only right we could exercise at this time," she said.

There is a "danger" that the 2021 national budget may again be delayed due to the power struggle at the house," Tan said.

"There’s a danger that will happen especially with the crisis in Congress although he [Cayetano] promised that on November 16 the house will deliver the budget to Senate but many things have yet to be resolved among the members," she added.