UNITY agenda of the Marcos administration, economic and pandemic measures will be the top priorities of the House of Representatives next Congress, according to House Majority Leader Martin G. Romualdez.
Romualdez, who will most likely be elected Speaker of the House in the 19th Congress, said the lower chamber would prioritize measures to get the country out of the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic and sustain its economic recovery.
“As part of the majority coalition, we shall be addressing the unity agenda of the administration. So we will be passing legislation amid the pandemic, and we hope that we are already in the endemic state,” Romualdez, Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) president, said.
“We hope to not only heal the nation but also heal the economy. These are the top priority programs of the majority in the incoming administration. And the key element here, of course, is unity. And we are here all together as we wind up in the 18th Congress. It brings me a lot of hope that [there is going to] be a shift–the unity we definitely need to move our country forward in the midst of these very big challenges,” he added.
Mastery of grind
PARTY-list lawmakers and neophyte House members and other incoming lawmakers from the National Unity Party (NUP), PDP-Laban, Lakas-CMD, Nacionalista Party (NP), Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP), Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) and Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) have endorsed Romualdez to be their leader in the next Congress.
Metro Manila Development Vice Chairman Rolando M. Valeriano (2nd District of Manila), who won by a landslide against former Rep. Carlo V. Lopez, said he already signed a manifesto endorsing Romualdez’s speakership.
According to Valeriano,”with Romualdez’s ability, skills and knowledge, he can unite and lead” the 19th Congress.
A University of the Philippines-educated lawyer, Romualdez was first elected to the post of House majority leader in 2016 as part of a term-sharing deal for Speaker between Taguig City Rep. Alan Peter S. Cayetano and Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Jay Q. Velasco.
Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda also said Romualdez would be the next Speaker “not because he is a cousin of the incoming President but because of his legislative prowess, his mastery of the legislative grind or mill.”
“He gets things done, even the most difficult reforms like the Public Service Act, for example. He has so many laurels to his credit. A Romualdez speakership will be an asset to a Marcos administration,” Salceda said.
GMA’s support
FORMER president and congresswoman-elect Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, chairman emeritus of Lakas-CMD Party, already expressed her support to Romualdez.
“Romualdez and I have been working together for decades in a joint effort to do our best to serve the Filipino people. Since 2010, our partnership involved our service as fellow members of the House of Representatives,” Arroyo said.
“I will be returning to the House on June 30, 2022. I would therefore like to advise the members of the Lakas-CMD that I am throwing my support for Romualdez to be elected as House Speaker in the next Congress. I urge all members of our party to do the same,” Arroyo added.
Deputy Speaker Camille A. Villar said the Nacionalista Party is also throwing its full support to Romualdez to become the next speaker.
“The Nacionalista Party believes that Speaker Romualdez will be a vital cog as the incoming Ferdinand Marcos Jr. administration fulfills its vision of unity and prosperity for the country,” Villar said.
Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny T. Pimentel has also endorsed Romualdez – cousin of Marcos Jr.—as speaker of the House of Representatives.
“Congressman Romualdez is highly competent. His track record as House majority leader speaks for itself,” Pimentel, chairman of the House Strategic Intelligence Committee, said.
Smooth transition
CAMARINES Sur Rep. LRay F. Villafuerte, meanwhile, said he sees the smooth transition from the leadership of the outgoing to the incoming House of Representatives with the imminent election of Romualdez as speaker.
Villafuerte said the assumption of the premier House post by the reelected Leyte congressman has become a “fait accompli” with his endorsement by former President and Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA), who was earlier seen as Romualdez’s most formidable challenger for the elective position.
“Martin’s election as Speaker right before BBM delivers his inaugural SONA (State of the Nation Address) in July is now a “fait accompli” with his endorsement as Speaker by no less than GMA, who has been touted as his most serious challenger for the position,” Villafuerte said.
“With GMA now out of the contest for the Speakership and the solid support of most power blocs in the House for Martin as Speaker, it will definitely be a smooth transition from the outgoing to the incoming leadership in the bigger chamber,” he said. “Hence, we anticipate no hitches in Martin’s election as Speaker, paving the way for the Leyte legislator to hit the ground running at the start of the first regular session of the 19th Congress.”
Consensus builder
VILLAFUERTE is the vice president for political affairs of the National Unity Party (NUP), which had earlier endorsed Romualdez as speaker.
“Romualdez is a consensus builder. The fact that he remained the Majority Leader even with the change in leadership in the House proves this. He listens and values the opinions of his peers, whether from the majority or the minority. He has the ability to transcend the political divide to mobilize the House into action and pass the bills necessary to support BBM’s development agenda,” Villafuerte said.
“[Romualdez] is hard-working and gets things done quickly as shown by his stint as majority leader when the House was able to pass at record speed the two Bayanihan laws. As majority leader, [he] helped accelerate the passage of President Duterte’s investor-friendly measures, such as the Create [Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises] law, and the amendments to the Retail Trade Liberalization Act (RTLA), Public Service Act (PSA) and the Foreign Investments Act (FIA),” the lawmaker added.
Villafuerte noted that Romualdez was among his co-authors for Create (Republic Act 11534) and the Bayanihan 1 (RA 11469) and Bayanihan 2 (RA 494) laws.
Practice perpetuated
Albay Rep. Edcel C. Lagman asked the next leadership of the Lower Chamber to stop perpetuating the practice of anointing a minority leader.
“I am urging the incoming administration not to perpetuate the stratagem of the majority leadership of anointing a Minority Leader in the House of Representatives as an adjunct of the majority coalition,” he said.
“Allow critical dissent to flourish and respect the independence of a vibrant, although only a handful, of minority representatives,” Lagman added.
Lagman is a current member of the independent bloc in the lower chamber.
“Legislation must pass deliberate consultation as well as the furnace of serious debate,” he said.
“The hallmark of a deliberative assembly is the genuine existence and steadfast advocacy of the minority,” the lawmaker added.
NPC endorsement
SENATE President Vicente C. Sotto III confirmed last Sunday of the unanimous endorsement by the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) of the ascendancy of Romualdez as the incoming Speaker of the House of Representatives, formally replacing Velasco when Congress reconvenes on July 1.
“As NPC chairman and in consultation with House leaders, I hereby announce the unconditional support of the party to the speakership of Rep. Romualdez in the 19th Congress,” Sotto III said over the weekend.
The Senate leader’s confirmation of his party’s support came on the heels of a photograph posted on twitter showing NPC stalwarts meeting with Romualdez.
Also last Sunday, NPC Secretary General and former Batangas Rep. Mark Llandro L. Mendoza, Rizal Rep. Michael John “Jack” R. Duavit and Quezon Rep. Wilfrido Mark M. Enverga presented to Romualdez the party’s manifesto of endorsement for the House Majority Leader as Speaker of the 19th Congress during a luncheon meeting in Makati City.
The NPC said Romualdez “will definitely bring the House of Representatives to new and greater heights under a common goal of unity towards economic and moral recovery, social justice and the rule of law. In view thereof, we conclusively support Romualdez as the Speaker of the 19th Congress of the House of Representatives.”
“We firmly believe that Romualdez has the experience and aptitude that will effectively unify the House of Representatives in the passage of important and crucial legislative reforms for the country and the Filipino people under the administration of His Excellency, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.,” the NPC added. The NPC has 39 members.