Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers (left), House Speaker Martin Romualdez (Facebook)

House Speaker Martin Romualdez's rising public satisfaction numbers amid the criticisms of some hasn't been lost to administrarion congressman Surigao del Norte 2nd district Rep. Robert Ace Barbers. 

“Congratulations to Speaker Martin for gaining 16 points increase in his satisfaction rating. This only proves that truly in his steering of the House, he follows the dictum of ‘action speaks louder than words," Barbers said. 

The Mindanaoan was referring to fhe results of the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey conducted from June 23 to July 1, 2024. Some 1,500 adults nationwide were polled for the survey. 

The results showed that Romualdez garnered a 16-point increase in net public satisfaction, from 13 percent in March 2024 to 29 percent in June 2024. 

"Ramdam ng taongbayan ang trabaho ng Kongreso ngayon bagamat maraming bumabatikos ngunit hindi mababago ang direksyon na ihatid ang serbisyo ng gobyerno sa tao at gawing layunin ang tunay na pagbabago sa ilalim ng Bagong Pilipinas,” said Barbers, who chairs the House Committee on Dangerous Drugs. 

(The people can feel that the House has been doing its job, even if there are a lot of critics, it will not change the chamber's direction of bringing government service to the people and to make real change happen under Bagong Pilipinas [New Philippines].) 

"No politics, no non-sense in the bills passed, no let up in the inquiries conducted by the committees and no sacred cows or special treatment to anyone. 

"Ito ay trabaho lang walang personalan (This is about getting the job done, nothing personal)," Barbers added. 

Barbers' panel is among the four that comprise the quad-committee (quad committee), which is set to hold an exhaustive inquiry on the supposed interconnected issues of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO), illegal drugs, and the extrajudicial killings during the previous Duterte administration's war on drugs. 

Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, an ally of former president Rodrigo Duterte, assailed the House of Representatives for forming the quad-comm, which had expressed its intention to invite him for the probe. 

Dela, who accused Speaker Romualdez and other ranking solons of pressuring Philippine National Police (PNP) officials into implicati g him and former president Duterte in the EJKs currently under scrutiny by the Internationa lCriminal Court (ICC), said he won't be attending the House investigation. 

But Barbers says it doesn't matter.

“Sa direksiyon ng House leadership, patuloy ang aming imbestigasyon sa drug trafficking at sa mga drug syndicate para mahinto ang salot na ito sa ating lipunan,” he vowed. 

(In this direction of the House leadership, we will continue to investigate drug trafficking and the drug syndicates in order to put a stop to this bane of society.)