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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider No surprises: Romualdez retains Speakership in 20th Congress

No surprises: Romualdez retains Speakership in 20th Congress

Published Jul 28, 2025 12:29 pm  |  Updated Aug 6, 2025 07:59 am

At A Glance

  • As expected, Leyte 1st district Rep. Martin Romualdez sealed his second straight term as House Speaker Monday, July 28, during the opening of the first regular session of the 20th Congress.
Leyte 1st district Rep. Martin Romualdez (PPAB)
Leyte 1st district Rep. Martin Romualdez (PPAB)


As expected, Leyte 1st district Rep. Martin Romualdez sealed his second straight term as House Speaker Monday, July 28, during the opening of the first regular session of the 20th Congress.
Romualdez, president of the dominant Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) party, received 269 votes during plenary session.
But the nominal voting--which took over an hour to complete--was merely a formality, since Romualdez was the sole House member nominated for Speaker during the proceedings Monday morning.
This mirrored the events three years ago, during the opening of the 19th Congress, when Romualdez also won and was unchallenged.
In the days leading to the Speakership vote, it was reported that 293 out of the 314 House members in the 20th Congress signed a manifesto supporting Romualdez's continued leadership in the lower chamber.
House Secretary General Reginald Velasco, who presided over the plenary session, was the one who declared Romualdez as duly-elected Speaker after the counting of votes.
Iloilo 3rd district Rep. Lorenz Defensor served as acting floor leader.
In the presence of his family, Romualdez took his oath of office at the plenary rostrum before Bulacan 6th district Rep. Salvador Pleyto Sr.
"With humility in my heart and a deep sense of duty, I rise today to accept the renewed trust you have given me to serve once again as Speaker of the House of Representatives," Romualdez said after his oath-taking.
"This is an honor I embrace with full awareness of the responsibility it entails — not only to this esteemed institution, but most importantly, to the Filipino people we have all sworn to serve," he said.
Nominating Romualdez was Lakas-CMD stalwart Quezon 2nd District Rep. David “Jay-jay” Suarez, who hailed the former's transformative leadership in the previous Congress. He credited him for turning the House into “a true House of the People — responsive to the needs of the nation, attuned to the voice of the common Filipino, and anchored in the values of unity, service and progress".
“[Romualdez] is not only a public servant of experience and stature — he is a leader of empathy, integrity and conviction. A unifier. A reformer. A partner of the President and a champion of the people,” Suarez said.
“Let us entrust the Speakership to a man who has already shown us what dignified, decisive and compassionate leadership looks like. Let us reaffirm our commitment to good governance by placing the gavel once more in capable, steady hands,” he added.
In a move that might have crushed the hopes of other supposed contenders to the post, Suarez's nomination was then seconded by a representative of each of the other major potlical parties in the House.
These were Ilocos Norte 1st district Sandro Marcos, who seconded the nomination on behalf of the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP), the party of President Marcos;
Quezon 1st district Rep. Mark Enverga, who represented the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC); Antipolo 1st district Rep. Ronaldo Puno, who represented the National Unity Party (NUP); and Misamis Oriental 2nd District Rep. Yevgeny Vincente Emano, who represented the Nacionalista Party (NP).
Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) Party-list Rep. Raymond Democrito Mendoza of the Party-list Coalition Foundation Inc. likewise expressed full support for Romualdez’s continued speakership.
Velasco said that 34 House members abstained from the vote.
Most notably, these included "Davao group" members Davao City 1st district Rep. Paolo Duterte, Davao City 2nd district Rep. Omar Duterte, PPP Party-list Rep. Harold Duterte, and Davao City 3rd district Rep. Isidro Ungab; and other rumored Speakership aspirants Cebu 5th district Rep. Vincent Franco "Duke" Frasco, Navotas City lone district Rep. Toby Tiangco, and Bacolod lone district Rep. Albee Benitez.
In one of his first acts as 20th Congress Speaker, Romualdez administered the oath of the members of the House of Representatives.
At 83, Pleyto is the oldest member of the lower chamber. The youngest is 25-year-old Tingog Party-list Rep. Andrew Julian Romualdez, the Speaker's son.
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