THE Visayan bloc at the House of Representatives yesterday joined various political parties in affirming their full support for the leadership of Speaker Ferdinand Romualdez amid an alleged attempt by Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo and her allies to oust him.
“Members of the Visayan bloc express full support for Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, a distinguished son of the Visayas and who has always been a strong champion of development in the Visayas,” the 51-strong bloc said in a statement.
Among those who signed the manifesto of support were Reps. Francisco Benitez of Negros Occidental and Lorenz Defensor of Iloilo for Western Visayas (Region VI), Jocelyn Limkaichong of Negros Oriental and Emmarie Dizon of Mandaue City for Central Visayas (Region VII), and Lolita Javier and Richard Gomez of Leyte for Eastern Visayas (Region VIII).
Romualdez, the president of the ruling Lakas-CMD and Arroyo, the party’s chairman emeritus, joined each other at the rostrum yesterday where the former president took her oath as a regular deputy speaker, a demotion from her former post as senior deputy speaker.
The Speaker also administered the oath to new Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr. of Pampanga, who was applauded by lawmakers along with Arroyo as they walked together to the rostrum.
At the rostrum, Romualdez showed his respect to Arroyo by bowing his head and placing the former president’s hand on his forehead, a gesture which is called “pagmamano” in Filipino. Gonzales did the same gesture, drawing applause from lawmakers in the plenary.
The Visayan bloc’s statement of support was issued after other parties like the PDP-Laban, Nacionalista party, Nationalist People’s Coalition, National Unity Party and the Party-list Coalition expressed support for Romualdez’s leadership.
“Speaker Romualdez has been a paragon of public service, demonstrating effective leadership through competence, diligence and good will. We will continue to work with him to deliver on the President’s priority legislative agenda and uplift the lives of Filipinos,” the group said.
The group added: “We firmly believe that through unity, the House will deliver on the promise of full economic recovery from the pandemic, and sustainable development and inclusive economic growth.”
Romualdez on Sunday said the House of Representatives has a lot of work left to do “so occasional moves to destabilize the House should be nipped in the bud.”
Arroyo has denied plotting a coup against Romualdez, saying that some of her actions “may have been misconstrued, such as my recent trip with a delegation of congressmen to Korea for some official meetings.”
The former president, the speaker in the 18th Congress, said she no longer aspires to regain the post but admitted that she wanted to have a shot at it when President Marcos Jr. won in the 2022 national elections.
Vice President Sara Duterte last week resigned as member of Lakas amid the infighting in the party. She is a known ally of Arroyo, who was able to pull off a coup in the 18th Congress against then speaker Pantaleon Alvarez with the help of the then Davao City mayor and presidential daughter.
Romualdez has also been close to the Vice President because he was among those who convinced her to run for the post, supported her candidacy and recruited her to join the ruling party.
