Rumors of a rift between Vice President Sara Duterte and House Speaker Martin Romualdez were put to rest on Tuesday, July 25, after the two were seen walking arm-in-arm during the sendoff for President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to Malaysia. (From left) Vice President Sara Duterte and Speaker Martin Romualdez (Photos from OVP, Speaker's office) In a video clip from state-run RTVM, Duterte and Romualdez, the President’s first cousin, were seen arm-in-arm and even holding hands while walking with Marcos and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos. “The Speaker and the Vice President canoodling is always a very good sign,” the Chief Executive commented during his speech, drawing laughs from the audience. The two officials, who once both headed the ruling Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) before Duterte’s resignation in May, were both part of the UniTeam ticket that dominated the 2022 elections. Romualdez even served as the Vice President’s campaign manager. Before Tuesday’s event, the two were publicly seen during the President’s second State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, July 24, at the Batasang Pambansa, but they remained distance based on video clips of the SONA aftermath. What went wrong? The rift became public after rumors of a failed coup against Romualdez purportedly architected by former president and now Pampanga 2nd District Rep. Gloria Arroyo led to her ouster from a senior deputy speaker position. Duterte, who considers Arroyo a mentor, did not take it lightly and resigned from her position from Lakas-CMD. In her statement, she criticized the “political toxicity” and “political power play” in the lower chamber, and refused to mention Romualdez’s name during a speech. But this also led to other lawmakers criticizing the Vice President and coming to the defense of the House Speaker. In an earlier Instagram post, she also referred to someone ambitious who had become “tambaloslos (shameless).” Despite rumors of a coup attempt, with Arroyo denying it, both Romualdez and the former president were seen exchanging pleasantries before Congress went into recess. And on the day of the SONA, the two even unveiled a new digital wall at one of the lobbies of the Batasang Pambansa complex.