Marikina City 2nd district Rep. Stella Quimbo said House of Representatives members consider Speaker Martin Romualdez as their "padre de pamilya" (head of the family), which explains their determination to defend him from the Senate's tirades.
Quimbo: House will always defend Romualdez, its 'padre de pamilya'
Feb 12, 2024 11:01 PM
At a glance
Marikina City 2nd Rep. Stella Quimbo (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)
House of Representatives members consider Speaker Martin Romualdez as their "padre de pamilya" (head of the family), which explains their determination to defend him from the Senate's tirades.
Marikina City 2nd district Rep. Stella Quimbo shared this notion Monday, Feb. 12 amid the continued back and forth between the House and the Senate on the touchy matter on Charter change (Cha-cha).
For Quimbo, the public discussions on Cha-cha must shift to a healthy and democratic debate, like what President Marcos endorsed last week.
“Ang kailangan po natin sa ngayon – at very clear ang sinabi ng Presidente – healthy and democratic debate (on the need to amend the economic provisions of the Constitution),” said the senior vice chairperson of the House Committee on Appropriations.
(What we need right now--and the President was very clear on this--is healthy and democratic debate.)
“Ang problema kasi, pag may mga inquiries sa Senado na nakaka-apekto dito po sa pag-achieve natin ng peace, that doesn’t help. Especially pag naa-atake si Speaker. Siya po ang padre de pamilya namin. He takes care of us. We need to also take care of him,” she said.
(The problem is, when there are inquiries in the Senate that affect our goal of achieving peace, that doesn’t help. Especially the attacks on the Speaker. He is our head of the family.)
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The Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms and People’s Participation chaired by Senator Imee Marcos is currently conducting hearings on the People’s Initiative to amend the Constitution.
The particular Senate probe had heavily insinuated that Romualdez had a direct hand in the PI, which was supposed to be a purely civilian undertaking. There have also been allegations of "signature-buying" in relation to the PI.
House members haven't shied away from responding to these direct and indirect attacks from their senator-colleagues.
“But enough said. We will stick to healthy and democratic debate, as instructed by the President…That’s the kind of environment we seek to foster, one of healthy and democratic (debate),” Quimbo said.