House leaders confident Romualdez is still speaker

Martin Romualdez

MANILA, Philippines — Two key lawmakers believe that Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez will still head the House of Representatives in the 20th Congress, saying that having him at the helm will be good for the Marcos administration’s legislative agenda.

Deputy Speaker David Suarez and House committee on agriculture and food Chair Quezon 1st District Rep. Mark Enverga told reporters on Friday that they do not think there would be a leadership change.

“In addition to that, we believe that the past three years, we have seen the good performance of the House. We saw how we were able to deliver the legislative agenda of the president, and we saw how our leadership was able to manage the issues faced by our country,” Suarez told reporters in a hotel in Makati City.

“So I believe, and many have their full trust and belief in needing continuity for the Congress, and we’re fully supportive behind the leadership of Speaker Martin,” he added.

Enverga, meanwhile, said that he has not heard rumors about Romualdez being replaced.

“We are still committed…we signed the manifesto of supporting … President BBM (Bongbong Marcos) and his legislative agenda. So, we believe that Speaker Martin will continue his term as speaker. I guess it’s just a matter of discussing it in the coming months or soon enough. So I think his term will continue. I don’t know any rumors; I haven’t heard any,” he said.

According to Suarez, there are still many things that have to be done by the House, like the lowering of rice prices, and Romualdez’s leadership will be key to such initiatives.

“We still have a lot of legislation to push […] it’s very important that we pass into law many proposals of our administration when it comes to the lowering of rice prices — the effects of which are being felt in Visayas — along with strengthening the farming sector […] and other legislative measures that you need to push forward,” he said.

“So, even though we have just gone through an election process, what’s important for us as the House is that we’re able to work, work fast.  Because unlike other elected officials, they have six years. We in the House, we have only three years, so we need to get ourselves organized and working,” he added.

Several lawmakers were seen entering the hotel, as a meeting among key House officials was scheduled.  When asked if this was a loyalty check, Suarez said the meeting was only intended to organize the House for the next Congress so that things would run smoothly.

“No, absolutely not, purely admin matters…We have three years, and we have 315 congressmen. So there’s so much work and preparation that needs to be done, especially when it comes to issues like committee assignments,” Suarez said.

“We don’t want that when Congress operates, and that’s only the time that we will just start planning. So it would be better to prepare for these things early on, so by the time we start working on July 1, we will just focus on our work,” he added.

It is unclear where it started, but there are rumors that Romualdez is on his way out as House speaker. His supporters have downplayed the rumors, saying his party, Lakas-CMD, remains the largest bloc in the House.

READ: Lakas-CMD retains dominance in the House with 104 bets winning

Under Romualdez, the House saw 13,454 measures filed as of December 2024. These include 11,241 bills and 2,212 resolutions.  Of this number, 1,368 measures were approved, including 166 that became Republic Acts — 73 national laws and 93 local laws.

READ: House files 13,454 measures since 2022, says Speaker Romualdez

The House, however, was also controversial due to several measures and investigations that it initiated.

In August 2024, the House quad committee started an investigation into the illegal activities of Philippine offshore gaming operators, the illegal drug trade, and alleged human rights violations in the Duterte administration’s drug war.

In February 2025, the House impeached Vice President Sara Duterte after 215 lawmakers signed a verified complaint based on alleged confidential fund misuse and grave threats to Romualdez, President Marcos, and First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos./mcm/abc