“This year’s State of the Nation Address (SoNa) would have made George R.R. Martin proud.

The Rains of Castamere was played by the wedding band – this was the signal. The host of the banquet, Lord Walder Frey, took the stage and said: “Your Grace, I feel I’ve been remiss in my duties. I’ve given you meat and wine and music, but I haven’t shown you the hospitality you deserve. My King has married and I owe my new Queen a wedding gift.” And so started the massacre of the Stark family and bannermen during what is known in literary and pop culture as the Red Wedding.

This was how one of the most gruesome and horrific scenes in the novel and TV series Game of Thrones played out. Perhaps, the biggest turning point in the saga, the Red Wedding was about betrayal in its highest form, violence unimagined and exercise of power on those who had no clue since it was all veiled behind a staged wedding celebration, a set-up for an onslaught. The mastermind of the massacre would later be learned to be the Lannisters, as mentioned by Lord Roose Bolton to Robb Stark before he was stabbed in the heart that “the Lannisters send their regards.”

This year’s State of the Nation Address (SoNa) would have made George R.R. Martin proud. Without the gore, the premeditated and inconceivable way how the House members executed the ouster of Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and the immediate election of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA), felt like it was taken from a scene in Game of Thrones.

From what I gathered (beware, hearsay) the narrative is as follows: Over the weekend, calls were purportedly made to almost all the House members for them to elect GMA as Speaker on Monday, 23 July. It was reported that they were made to speak to Mayor Sara Duterte, who has a known quarrel against then Speaker Alvarez. Reports reached Speaker Alvarez on Sunday and it was learned that there was a massive attempt to unseat him.

On the morning of Monday, 23 July, an all-member caucus was called by Majority Leader Rodolfo Farinas, but this coincided with several other party meetings. The caucus was not attended by a majority of the House members and a number of them were transient attendees, as if merely picking up sound bites on what was being discussed.

At 10 a.m., the first session of the Third Regular Session was called to order and Speaker Alvarez delivered his speech, but no one listened since the whispering was much louder. After the roll-call, it was seen that Rep. Lito Atienza was about to move for the declaration of the vacancy of the Speakership and House members called for the suspension of session.

During the break, the House members gathered with their political parties and loyalties were tested. One of the parties’ meetings was interrupted by a member of the other party which further raised the tensions in the air. The momentum in support of Speaker Alvarez was broken when one lady House member was asked on her loyalty and she asked to think about it first. This led to a “banyo (toilet) break” at the party meeting and those who were not 100 percent behind Speaker Alvarez took this opportunity to leave the meeting, never to return. The true colors were seen.

“The impasse broke when GMA and her supporters met with President Duterte.

The uncertainty of the moment led to a decision to adjourn the session in order for the SoNa to continue as planned. This was not taken lightly by the supporters of GMA. They staged the “rump session” without any audio system and the Congressional Mace and elected GMA as Speaker while Speaker Alvarez was awaiting the arrival of President Rodrigo Duterte in the helipad area.

It became more tense when President Duterte arrived to meet with Speaker Alvarez while GMA was seated on the Speaker’s seat at the rostrum. The impasse broke when GMA and her supporters met with President Duterte who reportedly asked them to retain the status quo for the SoNa. The SoNa started behind schedule because of this. President Duterte, perhaps in the rarest moments, delivered his prepared speech without any adlib and side comments. It was clear that he wanted this to finish quickly.

After the SoNa, more drama took place. In an effort to rectify any alleged irregularities on the election of GMA as Speaker, another session was held in the evening of Monday, this time with audio and a retrieved Congressional Mace from the Archives of the House of Representatives. A clear majority of the House members were present and elected GMA as the Speaker. The rest is history.

This is politics – perhaps in its worst form. This spectacle, done before the eyes of the entire nation, was executed in such a brazen manner. It delivered the outcome desired, but the chilling effect has left a number of House members and House Secretariat staff stunned to this very day. Now, the House in the process of adjusting to the change and a lot of questions are still unanswered. Who will be the new House Committee Chairmen? Will the legislative priorities be the same? Will there be a new Secretary General and Sergeant at Arms?

However, any question on the legitimacy of the election of Speaker GMA has been laid to rest by the statesmanship of former Speaker Alvarez who said: “We cannot undo the past, but we can certainly shape our future. The House of Representatives has chosen a new Speaker in the person of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Alang-alang sa bayan, let us get back to work and move on.”

Let’s take it from Speaker Alvarez. Time to get back to work and move on. With this, may I say, a heartfelt congratulation to Madam Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. You have our support.

For comments, email him at dmdejesus@house.gov.ph.

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