Lanao del Sur 1st district Zia Alonto Adiong can't help but be impressed by Leyte 1st district Rep. Martin Romualdez's silent flourish into a likely second straight stint as Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Adiong, in a statement Wednesday, July 16, ,said it may be the first time since the post-EDSA revolution era that a Speaker retained and even expanded public confidence during a politically volatile time without engaging in verbal combat.

“Walang speech war. Walang personality-driven narrative. Tahimik lang si Speaker, pero kita mo ’yung trabaho. That’s leadership by posture, not just performance. Kaya pati opposition, walang masyadong banat. Kasi lahat nakatutok sa trabaho,”

(No speech war. No personality-driven narrative. The Speaker stays quiet, but the work speaks for itself. That’s leadership by posture, not just performance. That’s why even the opposition isn’t hitting hard. Because everyone’s focused on working.)

The results of the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey, which covered the last three months of the previous 19th Congress, showed a significant jump in the trust level of then-Speaker Romualdez.

Romualdez's trust rating climbed from 23 percent in April to 34 percent in June.

"Hindi man siya ma-presscon, pero kita ng publiko ’yung output niya...Wala siyang ads, wala siyang rally. Pero tumaas. That’s performance-based trust. Hindi madaling kunin ’yan, lalo na kapag mataas ang ingay sa paligid,” Adiong said.

(He may not hold press conferences, but the public sees his output... No ads, no rallies. Yet his numbers went up. That’s performance-based trust. And that’s not easy to earn, especially when there’s so much noise around.)

House members will choose their Speaker in the current 20th Congress once they reconvene on July 28. Reports said that of the 314 members, at least 283 have signed a manifesto of support for Romualdez.

“If Speaker Romualdez continues to lead the House, we’re not starting from zero. We’re picking up from a position of strength. That means we can move faster, legislate better and carry over the momentum from the last three years,” Adiong said.

Adiong believes the House enters the 20th Congress in an unusually strong position.

“Karaniwan, pagpalit ng session, nagre-reset ang tiwala. Pero ngayon, hindi siya bumaba. That tells us na gusto ng tao ng continuity. Ayaw nila ng reset button. Gusto nila, ituloy lang,” he noted.

(Usually, when a new session begins, public trust resets. But this time, it didn’t dip. That tells us people want continuity. They don’t want a reset button—they want things to keep moving forward.)