BY WENDELL VIGILIA and RAYMOND AFRICA
LEYTE Rep. Martin Romualdez is expected to be elected today as the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the 19th Congress after getting the backing of a new supermajority coalition supporting the administration of his first cousin, President Marcos Jr.
Romualdez, the president of the new ruling party Lakas-CMD, also has the support of other political parties, including the PDP-Laban of former president Rodrigo Duterte, the National Unity Party (NUP), Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), the Nacionalista Party (NP) and majority of party-list groups.
The House is also expected to vote for other officers, including the majority leader, some deputy speakers and committee chairmen, and the chamber’s secretary general and sergeant-at-arms.
At the Senate, Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri is set to be named Senate President after getting the allegiance of majority of the senators.
The Senate and the House of Representatives will separately convene at 10 a.m. today to open the first regular session of the 19th Congress. They will meet in a joint session in the afternoon to listen to the first State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Marcos Jr.
Zubiri, who has been designated as acting head of the Senate, will lead the opening of the session and the election of officers. Expected to be elected are the Senate President, Senate president pro-tempore, majority leader, Senate secretary, and sergeant-at-arms.
The losing candidate for the Senate President is traditionally elected the minority leader.
The Senate will also welcome the 12 winners in the May 9 senatorial race, which is comprised of three first-time senators, four reelected, and five former senators. The 12 are Senators Robin Padilla, Raffy Tulfo, Mark Villar, Alan Peter Cayetano, Francis Escudero, Jose Victor Ejercito, Jose Estrada, Loren Legarda, Sherwin Gatchalian, Risa Hontiveros, Joel Villanueva, and Zubiri.
LEGISLATIVE AGENDA
Zubiri urged his colleagues at the Senate to work hard for the passage of measures aimed at reviving the economy, which suffered the worst from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. He asked senators to file measures that would provide strategies for pandemic relief, economic recovery, and how to stop inflation, among other things.
“Ang paki-usap ko sa mga kasamahan ay mag-trabaho tayo nang mag-trabaho para maahon natin ang bansa sa kahirapan lalo na galing tayo sa pandemya. Discussions will be on pandemic relief, economic recovery, pagtigil sa inflation, ayaw natin ng runaway inflation. Marami ang apektado ng pandemya lalo sa lockdown (My appeal to my colleagues is that we must work hard to uplift the people from poverty amid the continuing pandemic.
Priority discussions would be on pandemic relief, economic recovery, how to control inflation because we do not want a runaway inflation. There are many sectors which have been affected by the pandemic due to the lockdowns),” Zubiri said in a radio interview on Saturday evening.
Zubiri likewise asked the President to convene the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) soon after the SONA to “set the tone for (the) legislative agenda (in) the coming Congress.”
He said Marcos should also appoint a good Presidential Legislative Liaison Office (PPLO) secretary who can effectively coordinate his administration’s priority measures with Congress.
“Sana magka-LEDAC para mabigyan ng instruction, masabihan kami. Sabi ko kumuha ng magaling na PLLO secretary dahil mahalaga yan kung walang magti-timbre sa atin na ito ay hindi masyadong favorable, talagang mave-veto, tapos dadaan sa proseso, sayang ang resources (The LEDAC should be convened so the President can directly tell us his priority measures. I have suggested to the President to get a good PLLO secretary who can effectively communicate with Congress so we will not waste time and resources),” he added.
ROMUALDEZ
Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, who is among the contenders for majority leader, said Romualdez had a “sterling performance record” as the majority Leader of the 18th Congress under the leaderships of both former speakers Alan Peter Cayetano and Lord Allan Velasco.
The third-termer lawmaker said Romualdez is a “consensus-builder who helped stabilize political turmoil among members of the august chamber during the reported Velasco-Cayetano speakership rift in October 2020.”
“He was also credited for steering the House minority and majority members in the passage of crucial pieces of legislation such as the Bayanihan 1 and 2 to help alleviate economically the welfare of Filipinos badly affected by the Covid 19 pandemic,” Barbers said.
Romualdez, Barbers added, is an “amiable House leader who always consults and listens to his colleagues, always possess positive outlook, pushing harmony among members of the opposition block, and thereby gaining or earning trust and respect from the majority of his fellow lawmakers.”
“It’s an honor and a privilege to vote for Majo Romualdez as House Speaker for the 19th Congress, he being a consensus-builder and a hard-working lawmaker who can go beyond the political divide just to ensure the timely passage of former President Duterte’s priority measures,” he said. “His (Romualdez’s) unity message as desired by President Marcos would be a great asset and support to the 19th Congress as well as to the visons and aspirations of the Marcos administration.”
Pampanga Rep. Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr., a former deputy speaker, said: “We will elect him as our Speaker. He has the full support of our party, PDP-Laban, and almost all political groups in the House led by his own Lakas-CMD, which he heads as president,” the former deputy speaker said.
Gonzales agreed that the Leyte lawmaker is a known “consensus builder, who always listens to the concerns of his colleagues, his constituents and the people.”
He recalled that Romualdez was also in the running for the speaker’s post in 2019 but settled for the position of majority leader “to promote camaraderie and unity in the House.”
“He politely and patiently waited for his time to become Speaker while doing his job well. Forbearance and the capacity for self-sacrifice are his virtues. And the time has now come for him to be our leader,” he said.
Gonzales said Reginald Velasco, who served as deputy secretary general and spokesman of the National Unity Party, would most likely be elected as House secretary general.
