Speaker Velasco is a Duterte factotum. With Cayetano and the rest of Duterte’s minions, he supported the Anti-Terror Law, the shutting-down of ABS-CBN and giving Duterte extraordinary powers to divert public funds.

Thus, what do we expect from his speakership but more of the same rubberstamping of Duterte’s state terrorism and corruption? With Velasco at the helm, Congress is set to railroad the 2021 budget for pork barrel and state terorism: bloated funds for infrastructure, counterinsurgency and debt servicing; and meager financing for health, education and other urgent services.

The people will gain nothing from Velasco’s speakership: no mass testing and free treatment of Covid-19 infections, no wage increases and no subsidies for the unemployed, no job security, no land reform.

The speakership duel was all about getting a bigger share of power and bureaucratic loot. Cut from the same rotten tree of political dynasties, Velasco has bigger political ambitions, and is busy toadying up to Sara Duterte and Bong Go.