MEMBERS of the Nacionalista Party in Congress led by Las Piñas City Rep. Camille Villar yesterday paid outgoing majority leader Ferdinand Martin Romualdez of Leyte a courtesy call in Makati City, formalizing the party’s support for him to be the next Speaker of the House of Representatives in the 19th Congress.
Villar was accompanied by her brother, former public works secretary and incoming senator Mark Villar, and incoming Ilocos Norte Rep. Sandro Marcos, who is the son of presumptive President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., Romblon Rep. Eleandro Jesus Madrona and incoming Iloilo Rep. Ferjenel Biron.
The Villars are the children of Sen. Cynthia Villa and former Senate President Manny Villar Jr., the leaders of the NP, which has 39 members in the lower house.
Apart from the NP, Romualdez has received an avalanche of support from the ruling PDP-Laban, his own party Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD), Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP), National Unity Party (NUP), Liberal Party (LP), Party-list Coalition Foundation, Inc. (PCFI) and independents.
“I want to express my most sincere gratitude to all these political parties and their members. I am humbled and greatly honored by their statements of support and encouragement. I assure them that I will do my best to serve them well,” said Romualdez, a cousin of the presumptive president.
With major political groups coming together to support him, Romualdez said the House of Representatives “would be on solid ground in promoting the unity agenda of the incoming Marcos administration.”
“We will work as one in pursuing this agenda and putting in place measures that would get us out of the COVID-19 pandemic and those that would sustain our nascent economic growth,” Romualdez said.
The 34-member-strong National Unity Party (NUP) was the first group to announce its endorsement of the incumbent majority leader for the speakership.
The outgoing administration party PDP-Laban has 62 lawmaker-members, the NP has 39, Lakas-CMD has 29, and LP has nine.
Political parties began flocking to Romualdez after the next president last Friday made known his preference for his cousin to be the next Speaker during a thanksgiving dinner for his supporters and campaign staff.
Former president and speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who is returning as the representative of Pampanga’s second district, earlier threw her support behind Romualdez, and urged party mates to follow suit. Arroyo is Lakas-CMD president Emeritus, while Romualdez is the party president and presumptive Vice President Sara Duterte is the chairperson.
‘HOLD THE CELEBRATIONS’
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday advised winning party-list organizations to withhold their celebratory activities while the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) is still canvassing the votes at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) Forum Tent in Pasay City.
In a press briefing, Acting Elections spokesman John Rex Laudiangco said it would be better if party-lists and their respective nominees will refrain from acting and posturing as elected party-lists until they have been proclaimed by the NBOC.
“It’s their right to celebrate early. But also, please wait for the official action of the Commission, and the official canvass of the NBOC,” said Laudiangco.
“Just wait for a little bit more. Maybe, our celebrations can be put on hold. Let’s make it official first so we can have complete celebrations,” he added.
Laudiangco issued the statement days after the Party-list Coalition Foundation, Inc. (PCFI) officially endorsed Leyte 1st District Rep. Martin Romualdez as the next House Speaker.
In their manifestation of support, the party-list members identified themselves as those that were “elected for the 19th Congress”.
The NBOC has yet to proclaim any party-list group in the ongoing canvassing at the PICC Forum Tent.
In a related development, the Comelec said all substitutions made among party-list nominees will have to be approved by the poll body, be this due to withdrawal, death, or incapacity of their original nominees.
Laudiangco also clarified that former poll commissioner Rowena Guanzon has yet to make official her supposed substitution as nominee of the P3PWD party-list, pointing out that there is no existing substitution bid from Guanzon to become a party-list nominee.
“Per latest info, the Law Department has not yet receive any document pertaining to withdrawal and substitution of nominees for P3PWD,” he said.
The Comelec’s statement comes after Guanzon declared in her Facebook page that she will become the substitute nominee of P3PWD as its first nominee as Grace Yeneza has already allegedly expressed her intent to withdraw.
“Because Yeneza’s child has cancer, she informed the board that she will resign and I will substitute,” Guanzon said.
In the event that Guanzon files her substitution bid, Laudiangco said the Commission en Banc will have to make an official determination if it can still be accepted or not.
“Always, the procedure is the Commission will have to hear this. There must be a determination. If ever there are cases like this, for sure the Commission will make a determination through a hearing,” said Laudiangco.
And in case her substitution bid is approved, the poll official said the recently retired commissioner will place last among the group’s list of nominees.
“In accordance with the law, the remaining nominees will go up and the substitute nominee will come in last,” said Laudiangco.
Based on the latest tally of the National Board of Canvassers, the P3PWD is at 24th spot with 390,180 votes. — With Gerard Naval
