What will happen to Marcos admin? Here are Lagman's predictions
Albay 1st district Rep. Edcel Lagman (Facebook)
The stripping of Pampanga 2nd district Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of her senior deputy speaker position and the subsequent resignation of Vice President Sara Duterte from the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) will shake up the Marcos administration. Liberal Party (LP) President and Albay 1st district Rep. Edcel Lagman made this prediction Friday afternoon, May 19 even as he opined that the developments concerning Arroyo and Duterte were "obviously related". "The positioning and contest for the 2028 presidential elections have begun even before the 2025 mid-term elections," Lagman said in a statement Friday afternoon, May 19. "It would be recalled that Arroyo and Duterte were the principal conspirators in the ouster of then-Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez and the ascendancy of the Arroyo as Speaker in 2018," the Bicolano said, referring to Alvarez’s ouster just before then-president Rodrigo Duterte delivered his State of the Nation Address (SONA). "The power play and intramurals in Lakas may result to further resignations by Arroyo and Duterte loyalists," said Lagman, the self-styled independent minority solon in the House of Representatives. "These political developments will have repercussions in the revamp of the Marcos Cabinet," he added. Vice President Duterte, erstwhile Lakas-CMD chairperson, is the concurrent Department of Education (DepEd) secretary. President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. personally chose that position for her last year. Former president Arroyo--despite her removal as senior deputy speaker and relegation as deputy speaker--remains the chairperson emeritus of Lakas-CMD. House Speaker and Leyte 1st district Rep. Martin Romualdez is the president of Lakas-CMD. He has yet to personally address Arroyo's "demotion" and Duterte resignation. "The Liberal Party, as the principal opposition party, will be keenly watchful of further developments as they unfold," Lagman said.