Ryan Ponce Pacpaco

LETYE Representative-elect Martin Romualdez yesterday assured the newly constituted Party List Coalition (PLC) of fair and equitable distribution of committee posts and budget allocations should he become the Speaker of the incoming 18th Congress.

“Rest assured that the malasakit governance we have been implementing will continue to ensure that people who are less in life would enjoy more government’s malasakit under President Rodrigo Duterte through sufficient funding on education, health and other social services,” said Romualdez, the outgoing Leytefirst district representative and the chairperson of the House Committee on Accounts, whose group was one of the 51 party-list organizations proclaimed winners by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) last Wednesday night.

“I am not the correct person to endorse someone to be the next Speaker. I only have a personal bet but do not intend to influence Congress. It is best if the newly elected members of the House of Representatives individually decide who among those who are interested to become the next Speaker can truly bring good governance and positive change to Congress, to the Filipino people, and to our country,” said the Davao City mayor.

ALBAY Rep. Edcel Lagman yesterday urged the speakership aspirants to ensure that there will be a genuine House minority leader in the incoming 18th Congress.

THE leadership of Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is committed to passing more pending legislative bills, hoping to muster enough quorum in the remaining nine session days as the outgoing 17th Congress returns to work this Monday after the midterm polls, a House leader said Sunday.

AN opposition House leader yesterday said the incoming 18th Congress must pass the national budget for next year without delay as he warned against a repeat of the “costly” 2019 budget crisis.

LEYTE first district Representative-elect Martin Romualdez yesterday asked the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) to update the public and Congress on the compliance rate of a “malasakit” (compassionate) law exempting persons with disabilities (PWDs) from the payment of value-added tax (VAT) on certain goods and services.

In the explanatory note of HB No. 986, which was the basis of 7070, Fortun said that the Balangay was the first-ever wooden watercraft to be excavated in Southeast Asia, demonstrating early Filipino boat-building skill and seamanship expertise during the pre-colonial times.

“The trust given by the public to Tingog is the reason why we are here. We cannot afford to disappoint them. Thus, with the support of the President Rodrigo Duterte administration and the public, Tingog will do its share to realize its vision for a progressive Eastern Visayas,” said Romualdez after Tingog ranked 18th out of 134 party-list groups with 387,019 votes as of Thursday.

This was asserted by Philippine Constitution Association (Philconsa) President Martin Romualdez, returning Leyte first district congressman, after nine senatorial bets endorsed by President Duterte and re-elected Davao City Mayor and Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) chairperson Sara Duterte gave clear indication of winning the 2019 midterm elections based on partial and unofficial results.

HERALDING a new age of Philippine-Japanese friendship, Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Ambassador of Japan to the Philippines His Excellency Koji Haneda celebrated on Tuesday the ascension of Emperor Naruhito to the Chrysanthemum Throne.

PHILIPPINE Constitution Association (Philconsa) president Martin Romualdez, also president of the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) and former House Independent Bloc of the previous 16th Congress, thanked all his supporters for believing in his ability to continue his “malasakit” (compassionate) advocacies.

PHILIPPINE Constitution Association (Philconsa) President Martin Romualdez is set to reclaim his old post as congressman of Leyte’s first district after cementing a lopsided win in the congressional race.

LEYTE First District congressional candidate Martin Romualdez and his wife Tingog party-list First Nominee Yedda Marie M. Kittilstvedt-Romualdez yesterday thanked their endorsers and supporters led by Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte Carpio as they aired hope for positive election results in their favor.