PDP-Laban exec reacts to Gonzales' ascension as senior deputy speaker
House Senior Deputy Speaker and Pampanga 3rd district Rep. Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr. (Facebook)
Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) National President and Palawan 2nd district Rep. Jose Alvarez has welcomed the House leadership's decision to give the senior deputy speaker's post to one of its own, Pampanga 3rd district Rep. Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr. "We, in PDP-Laban, congratulate our National Treasurer Rep. Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales, Jr. for having been elected as senior deputy speaker of the 19th Congress," Alvarez said in a statement Thursday, afternoon, May 18. "We consider the move of the House of Representatives to elevate Rep. Gonzales to the second highest position in the chamber as a recognition of our partymates’ invaluable contribution to the unprecedented work that the House has accomplished less than a year in our term," he said. Alvarez went on to reaffirm the party's support and commitment to President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. and House Speaker Martin Romualdez. "We continue to work hand-in-hand and in close partnership with Speaker Martin Romualdez, who have mobilized a multi-partisan coalition in the House of Representatives to help President Marcos deliver his commitment to our people. The election of Rep Gonzales show the strong ties and cooperation between the Speaker’s party Lakas-CMD (Christian Muslim Democrats)and PDP Laban in serving the Filipino people," he said. Pampanga 2nd district Representative and former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who Gonzales replaced for the position of senior deputy speaker, is the chairperson emeritus of Lakas-CMD.