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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Kiko Barzaga openly plotting Speakership coup, hounding Sandro Marcos for his backing

Kiko Barzaga openly plotting Speakership coup, hounding Sandro Marcos for his backing

Published Sep 25, 2025 02:53 pm

At A Glance

  • Cavite 4th district Rep. Francisco "Kiko" Barzaga is openly plotting a coup d'etat against House Speaker Faustino "Bojie" Dy III, with the belief that Majority Leader Ilocos Norte 1st district Rep. Sandro Marcos would give him the numbers that he needs.
Cavite 4th district Rep. Francisco "Kiko" Barzaga (left), Ilocos Norte 1st district Rep. Sandro Marcos (Facebook, PPAB)
Cavite 4th district Rep. Francisco "Kiko" Barzaga (left), Ilocos Norte 1st district Rep. Sandro Marcos (Facebook, PPAB)

Cavite 4th district Rep. Francisco "Kiko" Barzaga is openly plotting a coup d'etat against House Speaker Faustino "Bojie" Dy III, with the belief that Majority Leader Ilocos Norte 1st district Rep. Sandro Marcos would give him the numbers that he needs.
According to Deputy Speaker Iloilo 1st district Rep. Janette Garin, Barzaga had been saying the past few days that Dy's tenure as Speaker would only last for a week.
"He was telling us, 'One week lang yung Speaker dyan, one week lang. Ako yung papalit (the Speaker will only be there for a week, only a week. And I will replace him),'" Garin quoted Barzaga as saying on Wednesday night, Sept. 24.
"To be honest, he really wants to be Speaker. He really wants to be Speaker," noted Garin.
Sept. 24 marked Dy's first week as the top official in the House of Representatives.
Instead of supporting Barzaga's coup, House members kept themselves busy with the marathon plenary debates on the P6.793-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB) or proposed national budget for 2026.
But during a lull in the plenary debates Wednesday, Barzaga approached Rep. Marcos as he attempted to taunt and vlog about the latter; Garin found this to be disrespectful, and subsequently reprimanded the Cavite lawmaker.
For some reason, Garin said that the eccentric Barzaga "likes to engage" with Rep. Marcos.
According to another House member who declined to be named, Barzaga has been trying to force Rep. Marcos into supporting his candidacy for Speaker. And with the majority leader's prospective backing, Barzaga believes he can get enough members of the 300-plus strong chamber to support his Speakership bid.
Garin said the 27-year-old representative from Dasmariñas City continues to openly campaign in plenary for the post of Speaker.
"Ang sinasabi lang namin is tapusin muna namin itong budget. Kasi unang una he needs to have the numbers. He needs to campaign doon sa aming mga kasamahan (What we're saying is, let us finish the budget first. Because first of all, he needs to have the numbers. He needs to campaign among our colleagues)," she said.
"And he keeps on presenting his platform. Mayroon siyang mga plano para sa Pilipinas, mayroong siyang plano para sa Kongreso. Pinakinggan ko naman yun initially kaya lang ngayon, kulang talaga kami sa oras (He has plans for the Philippines, he has plans for Congress. I listened to that initially, but now, we really don't have enough time)," added Garin.
"We respect that, kaya lang hindi kami maka-full time ng attention (but we just can't give it our full attention)," the deputy speaker further said.
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