Newly-installed House Senior Deputy Speaker Pampanga 3rd district Rep. Aurelio "Dong" Gonzales Jr. "will remain a steady and reliable ally" of Speaker Martin Romualdez. Thus, said Party-list Coalition Foundation, Inc. (PCFI) President and Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Zaldy Co in a statement Friday, May 19. "The Partylist Coalition joins its fellow House members in congratulating Rep. Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales, Jr. for his election as senior deputy speaker in the 19th Congress," Co said. "As Coalition President, I'm privy as to how SDS Gonzales worked diligently to help Speaker Martin Romualdez steer the House into approving a record-number of priority bills even before the conclusion of the first regular session," said the House Committee on Appropriations chairman. "I firmly believe that SDS Gonzales will remain a steady and reliable ally of Speaker Romualdez in delivering the commitments made by the House in pursuit of the 8-Point Socio-Economic Agenda of the Marcos administration," he added, echoing the statements of support made earlier by the other political parties represented in the lower chamber. Co said the PCFI vows to remain a staunch partner of the supermajority in the House of Representatives in addressing issues and concerns of its constituents as part of its legislative functions. "We laud Speaker Romualdez for his exemplary leadership, which was marked by a compassionate and fair treatment of partly-list organizations that were considered second-class solons in past Congresses," Co said. During plenary session Wednesday, May 17, the House leadership announced that Pampanga 3rd district Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, a former president, would be removed as senior deputy speaker and related to the position of deputy speaker. Gonzales was named as her replacement.