House Speaker Martin Romualdez (Speaker's office)


Destabilization plots in the House of Representatives "should be nipped in the bud". Thus, said House Speaker Martin Romualdez Sunday, May 21 in a statement that appeared intended to allay concerns of supposed cracks in the administration coalition amid rumors that there is a plan to unseat him. "The House of the People is in order. This same level of order is what allowed us to approve on third and final reading at least 29 of the 42 bills that comprise the legislative agenda of President Ferdinand [Bongbong] Marcos, Jr.," he said. "These include measures condoning the debts of our agrarian reform beneficiaries, creation of specialty centers in the provinces similar to the Lung and Heart Centers in Metro Manila, and the Magna Carta bills that seek to protect the rights and promote the welfare of our Barangay Health Workers and Seafarers," he noted. "There is still much work to do, so occasional moves to destabilize the House should be nipped in the bud," added Romualdez, Leyte's 1st district representative and Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) president. He neither specified the destabilization move nor the action taken to stop it. As it is, the well-oiled machine that is the House seemingly began to act up when the leadership "demoted" Pampanga 2nd district Representative and former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo from being the senior deputy speaker tp just a deputy speaker last May 17. A day after, Vice President Duterte resigned as Lakas-CMD chairperson. Duterte and Arroyo, Lakas-CMD's chairperson emeritus, are known to be close. "The House cannot be distracted from finding legislative solutions to issues that affect the lives of ordinary Filipinos. Rather than engaging in politicking, I would rather that we, in the House of Representatives, remain focused on more urgent matters," Romualdez said. Romualdez is Marcos' cousin and most trusted lieutenant in the legislature, if not the entire bureaucracy.