NPC joins House coalition supporting Duterte programs

The Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), second biggest political party in the country, yesterday joined the Coalition for Change set up by incoming president Rodrigo Duterte’s political party, PDP-Laban, which already includes the Nacionalista Party (NP), the Lakas-CMD, and the Partylist Coalition. The alliance supports the legislative agenda of Duterte, with Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon “Bebot” Alvarez endorsed for the speakership of the House of Representatives, which is now led by the Liberal Party (LP) bloc headed by Speaker Feliciano Belmonte. Anointed by Duterte to be the next House leader, Alvarez has scheduled conferences with the National Unity Party (NUP) headed by Bataan Gov. Albert Garcia and the Visayan Bloc which counts on LP congressmen as members. Alvarez, PDP-Laban secretary-general, disclosed that he and Belmonte discussed their rivalry for the speakership in a telephone conversation Thursday night. “He assured me that LP will support the Duterte administration,” said Alvarez, former [...]