Leyte 1st district Rep. Martin Romualdez, in his first speech as House Speaker, galvanized his solon-colleagues into working with him "as a team" in order to address the problems besetting the nation.
"Rather than I accept the position, I ask you all to accept the duty, service...for you and I can do this all together as a team as we have in the previous Congress. And in unity, they say, there is strength," Romualdez said during the first session of the 19th Congress on Monday afternoon, July 25.
A whopping 283 House members voted in favor of him becoming the new speaker. A total of 309 solons responded to the roll call of members.
"I am deeply elated beyond words for the trust and confidence you have reposed upon me, my fellow distinguished members of this chamber. Your unqualified support overwhelms me, and it is with high hopes that together, we can hurdle the challenges that we face at this stage of the Covid-19 pandemic," the Visayan said.
"The tasks ahead of us may seemingly be daunting but our synergy is the seed that will nurture us for the ensuing years," added Romualdez, who has a reputation for being a consensus-builder.
"We will work together to ensure that the House of Representatives truly embodies the will of the people. We will work hand-in-hand to ensure swift passage of House measures that are needed by the people and would support development across all sectors of society and different levels of government. With unity of purpose, there is nothing that we cannot do," he stressed.
Romualdez vowed to his colleagues that he would attend to all the concerns of their constituents.
"I vow to I shall strive to be as fair as possible, to favor no one. There will be fair and equitable distribution of resources for development across regions, regardless of political affiliation," said the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) president.
"No one gets left behind. I will keep my office always open, available to all, always open to you, the members of the House, for we are the House of the people, the majority and the minority. Priority will be given to those willing to share the aspirations of their constituents with me," he said.