Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
TACLOBAN CITY––After campaigning hard for his cousin in the presidential race, re-elected Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez may become the next speaker of the House of Representatives.
Romualdez, who ran unopposed for Leyte’s first congressional district, said he would abide by the decision of the majority of the congressmen.
“I will leave it to the discretion and sound judgment of my colleagues at the House (of Representatives). It will be an honor to serve,” he said in a recent interview.
Romualdez, who got more than 180,000 votes, said the victory of his cousin, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., proved the desire of Filipinos for change and unity.
“We heard the clamor of the people. Let us now unite, and together, we will rise,” he said.
Romualdez said the election of Marcos as the next president of the country would benefit Eastern Visayas since it would now be easier to ask for projects and programs for the good of the people.
Apart from Romualdez, other elected officials in Leyte have started making their wishlists for Marcos.
Governor-elect Carlos Jericho Petilla said he wanted Marcos to start implementing the big-ticket projects endorsed by the Regional Development Council (RDC) for Leyte.
Petilla, who once chaired the regional policy-making body, said the approval and realization of RDC-backed projects by Malacañang “takes time” and that the project proponents were no longer in office.
“I have not asked anything from him (Marcos) except to make Leyte a priority,” he said.
“During our conversation, he (Marcos) vowed to help Leyte, saying that he is from the province and that we supported him (on his presidential run),” he added.
Petilla, who served as Energy secretary during the administration of the late president Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, hoped that Marcos would “shorten” the waiting period for the projects to be implemented.
Among the RDC-proposed projects were several by-pass roads; a bridge linking Leyte and Bohol provinces; and the Babatngon, Leyte-Santa Rita, Samar Bridge.
Petilla said some projects endorsed by the RDC years ago were hardly implemented.
He cited a by-pass road in Palo town, which was proposed almost a decade ago but was realized only during the administration of outgoing governor Leopoldo Dominico.
Rep. Karen Javier, who was re-elected second district representative, said she too was expecting Marcos to deliver more projects for her constituents.
“Our incoming president will help Leyte, including my congressional district, by opening more farm-to-market roads and livelihood assistance. I don’t think he will fail us,” she said.
Leyte is a bailiwick of Marcos since his mother, Imelda, hails from the province.
Outgoing Gov. Leopoldo Dominico Petilla said Leyte delivered at least 78 percent of the total votes cast in the province for Marcos.
Leyte, which has more than 1.3 million voters, gave Marcos 824,839 votes in the May 9 elections.