Vice President Sara Duterte (Noel Pabalate/ MANILA BULLETIN)

Members of the "Young Guns" bloc in the House of Representatives can't help but poke fun at former presidential spokesman Harry Roque for proclaiming in a Dumaguete prayer rally Tuesday that Vice President Sara Duterte is the true president of the country. 

Zambales 1st district Rep. Jay Khonghun, Ako Bicol Party-list Rep. Jil Bongalon, and Lanao del Sur 1st district Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong took turns in clowning Roque during a press conference Wednesday, May 8 at the Manila Polo Club in Makati City. 

"Tingin ko si Secretary Roque, he must be dreaming ano, parang binabangungot ata si Secretary Roque (I think Secretary Roque, he must be dreaming, Secretary Roque seems to be having nightmares)," Khonghun said. 

"Hindi susuportahan ng Pilipino yung gusto nilang mangyari (The Filipino people won't support what they want to happen)," he said. 

For Bongalon, Roque's remarks were "irrelevant" and just meant to "confuse" the people. 

"Sino ba binoto ni Harry Roque sa presidente? Bakit niya sinasabi si Sara [Duterte], yung VP yung tunay na presidente? So I guess may mali po doon," said the party-list solon, who claimed that Roque was just "trying to be relevant". 

(Who did Harry Roque vote for as president? Why is he saying that Sara Duterte, the VP, or the real president? So I guess something is wrong there.) 

Bongalon said Marcos clearly won the 2022 presidential race to the tune of 31 million votes. 

Adiong, for his part, said, "It's laughable to think [that] for somebody who has served in government to even insinuate that the real president [is] Sara Duterte. I mean--Is he trying to create a parallel universe here?" 

He described Roque's remarks as "plain and simple absurdity". 

Khonghun, Bongalon, and Adiong are all assistant majority leaders in the House of Representatives. 

Roque served as presidential spokesman during the term of former president Rodrigo Duterte, father of the incumbent Vice President. 

In May 2022, Roque ran for senator under the Marcos-led UniTeam ticket. He failed to get in the winners' circle.