A change in leadership in the House of Representatives could end up hurting the legislative agenda of President Marcos in the remainder of his term in Malacañang.
Thus, said National Unity Party (NUP) President Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte even as the party--one of the biggest and most respected political parties in the Philippines--officially announced its "full backing" of Leyte 1st district Rep. Martin Romualdez as House Speaker in the upcoming 20th Congress.
Romualdez, president of the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD), is the Speaker of the current 19th Congress. The 19th Congress will adjourn sine die on June 13.
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it,'" said Villafuerte, outgoing congressman and incoming Camarines Sur governor.
"A leadership shake-up could only put this administration's priority agenda at serious risk in the House of Representative, possibly leading to irreversible legislative drift in the remaining half of the Marcos presidency," he said.
He noted that before the 19th Congress went on recess for the mid-term elections, the House--under Romualdez's watch--passed 88 laws of national significance, including those identified as priority bills by President Marcos and the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC).
The House had also passed 61 of 64 bills on the Common Legislative Agenda (CLA) listed by the House, includes 27 of the 28 measures identified by LEDAC.
Villafuerte had authored or co-authored 20 of the 27 House-approved LEDAC priority measures.
Throughout all of this, Romualdez has emerged as Malacañang's top ally in the entire legislature.
"The NUP supports 100% the continuity of the Bagong Pilipinas agenda of President Marcos of better lives for all Filipinos in the second half of his presidency...and for the House to help stay the course of this pro-poor and pro-growth vision in the Congress, it is crucial for Speaker Martin to remain at the helm of the bigger chamber to continue shepherding the passage of the priority bills of this dministration meant to spell high, inclusive and sustainable growth," the veteran solon said.
"Leadership continuity is so essential at this point, given that Filipinos have started to reap the benefits of the initiatives that have been carried out in the first three years of the Marcos presidency to improve their lives," explained Villafuerte.
NUP has 34 stalwarts in the House of Representatives, which has around 300 members.
Leaders of pro-administration political parties, including the NUP, attended a meeting at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel last Friday. It was the first post-election caucus to discuss the House's priority legislative agenda in the 20th Congress.