House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
DEPUTY Speaker and La Union Rep. Paolo Ortega V on Wednesday declared that there will be no change of leadership in the House of Representatives and that members remain firmly united behind Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez.
“There is no change of leadership,” Ortega replied when asked by reporters in an ambush interview if there were attempts to unseat Speaker Romualdez.
“As you can see, nagkakaisa po ang House of Representatives. Nandun po lahat ng party leaders, nandun po ang aming Majority Floor Leader [Ilocos Norte Rep. Ferdinand Alexander A. Marcos), nandun po si Speaker at mga ibang Deputy Speakers,” Ortega added, pointing to the presence of key leaders during their recent gathering.
Leaders of the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD), Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP), National Unity Party (NUP), Nationalists People’s Coalition (NPC), Nacionalista Party (NP), and Party-List Foundation Inc. (PCFI).
When asked if this amounted to a fresh expression of support for the Speaker, Ortega stressed that actions and images already speak volumes about the state of solidarity within the chamber.
“I think the photo will speak for itself na kitang-kita ng tao yung suporta ng House of Representatives saka Party Leaders,” he explained.
The Deputy Speaker dismissed speculation of internal discord and reiterated in clear terms that the leadership remains unchanged.
In recent weeks, persistent rumors had circulated about supposed moves to alter the House leadership. Ortega, however, downplayed these, underscoring that such talk had no basis.
“Well, maraming tsismis pero sabi ko nga, tsismis. Mga bulong-bulong. Pero as you can see, the House is one, the House is solid, and there’s no change in the leadership,” he said.
Asked if attempts had been made to actually unseat the Speaker, Ortega replied that while gossip has been rife, there was no evidence to suggest that a real challenge had materialized.
The meeting in question was attended by a significant number of deputy speakers. Ortega confirmed this detail while clarifying that he could only speak from his own perspective.
“As far as I know, kumpleto,” he said when asked if all deputy speakers had been present.
Another issue raised was the rumor of supposed signature-gathering campaigns in support of a new Speaker, but Ortega again brushed this aside as unverified chatter.
“Tawag lang ‘yung naririnig ko. Tawag-tawag lang,” he noted.
When pressed to elaborate, Ortega clarified that such calls were second-hand accounts and lacked clarity on their source.
“May tumatawag sa ibang members. Pero hindi rin nagpapakilala,” he said, adding that it was not a development worth treating as fact.
“Hindi, hindi ako tinawagan eh. Sabi-sabi lang ng mga ibang members, pero nothing concrete. Parang nag-start po ito before pa ng 20th Congress. Same na mga parang sentiments. Well, most of them were using the name of the bosses, kung sinu-sinong pangalan ang ginagamit. Pero sabi ko nga, pag hearsay mahirap maniwala,” Ortega stressed
