Pampanga 3rd district Rep. Aurelio "Dong" Gonzales III is confident that Speaker Martin Romualdez will retain the House leadership in the upcoming 20th Congress despite the ongoing "intramurals" within the National Unity Party (NUP).
At least that's how Gonzales described the happenings between Deputy Speaker Cebu 5th district Rep. Vincent Franco "Duke" Frasco and his erstwhile political party, the NUP.
The NUP is just one of the major parties in the House that have been loyal to Leyte 1st district Rep. Romualdez and support his continued speakership.
"Ako, I believe 100 percent siya pa rin ang magiging Speaker (As for me, I believe 100 percent that he would still be the Speaker)," Gonzales, the senior deputy speaker in the 19th Congress, said about Romualdez.
"The mere fact na may pumirma ng 285 for the 20th Congress, that is a manifestation na talagang gusto nila ‘yong liderato ng ating nakaupong Speaker. Ganyan lang ka-simple ‘yon (The mere fact that 285 House members in the 20th Congress signed, that is a manifestation that they really like the leadership of the sitting Speaker. It's that simple)," said the Pampanga solon.
Gonzales belongs to the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD), where Romualdez is the president.
Frasco recently grabbed headlines when he refused to sign the manifesto of support for Romualdez ahead of the 20th Congress. The NUP interpreted this as an independent decision and kicked Frasco out of the party.
Asked to comment on the situation, Gonzales said: "I think that is a party decision, that is a party intramurals and everything, so ‘yon lang po ang pwede kong masabi (so that's all I can say)."
The senior deputy speaker didn't subscribe to Frasco's claim that congressmen were disappointed over the current House leadership.
"All congress-persons in Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and all happy. Masaya po silang lahat. Wala po akong naririnig na mayroong ganyang issue sa liderato ni Speaker Martin Romualdez. Kaya nagtataka din po ako eh (They are all happy. I have not heard of any issues regarding Speaker Martin Romualdez’s leadership. That’s why I’m also wondering)."
At any rate, Gonzales has nothing bad to say about Frasco.
"Kasama ko ‘yang (He's a fellow) deputy speaker, I am the senior deputy speaker, and he is one of the deputy speakers. Palagi namang nandyan nagpe-preside. We have the schedule to preside, ginagawa naman niya ‘yong tungkulin niya, at hindi ko alam bakit may ganitong issue (He is always there presiding. We have a schedule for presiding, and he fulfills his duties. I don’t know why this issue has come up)," he said.