Amid the apparent intrigue in the House of Representatives' leadeship, Deputy Speaker La Union 1st district Rep. Paolo Ortega V bared on Wednesday, Sept. 10 that the congressmen were "solidly" behind Speaker Martin Romualdez.

"There is no change of leadership," Ortega confidently declared in a chance interview with House reporters on Wednesday afternoon.

Earlier that day, Ortega shared on Facebook photos of a party leaders' meeting in Batasan complex. Present during the meeting--and seen in the photos--were Leyte 1st district Rep. Romualdez; presidential son, Majority Leader Ilocos Norte 1st district Rep. Sandro Marcos; Ortega, his fellow deputy speakers; and other high-ranking officials of the lower chamber.

"The house stands tall because its foundations are service, sacrifice, and solidarity. " Ortega wrote as caption.

Asked about this particular post in the interview, the Ilokano said: "As you can see, nagkakaisa po ang House of Representatives, nandun po ang lahat ng party leaders, nandun po ang aming majority leader, nandoon po si Speaker at ang ibang deputy speaker."

(The House of Representatives is united, all the party leaders were there, our majority leader was there, the Speaker was there, as well as the other deputy speakers.)

"I think the photo will speak for itself," he added.

However, he did acknowledge that there have been "rumors" of a coup attempt.

"Well, maraming tsismis. Sabi ko nga, tsismis, kibitzers. Mga bulong-bulong (Well, there are a lot of rumors. Like I said, rumors, kibitzers. There are whispers). But as you can see, the House is one, the House is solid, and there is no change in leadership."

According to Ortega, these rumors aren't directly attributable to the current flood control projects controversy, since certain people began making moves even before the start of the 20th Congress last June 30.

"Tawag-tawag lang...pero nothing concrete. Parang nag-start po ito before pa ng 20th Congress (People are making calling calls...but nothing concrete. I think this started even before the 20th Congress)," he said.

Ortega said he didn’t receive such calls. "Pero sabi ko nga, pag-hearsay, mahirap maniwala (But like I said, it's not advisable to believe in hearsays)."

Wednesday's plenary session ended relatively early and with no drama. The next plenary session will take place on Monday, Sept. 15.

Meanwhile, Ortega acknowledged that Deputy Speaker Antipolo City 1st district Rep. Ronaldo "Ronnie" Puno wasn't present during the party leaders' meeting.

Ortega has refused fo speculate about the reason for Puno's absence, although he believes that the latter remains a deputy speaker.

Romualdez is president of the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD), while Puno is chairman of the National Unity Party (NUP). These are the two biggest political parties innthe 300-plus strong House.