Agreeing with Romualdez isn’t following him blindly 鈥� Adiong
Lawmakers who agree with House of Representatives Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez on legislative matters do not mean they are his blind followers, Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said on Friday, June 6, 2025. File photo
MANILA, Philippines — Lawmakers who agree with House of Representatives Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez on legislative matters do not mean they are his blind followers, Lanao del Sur 1st District Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said on Friday.
Adiong, in an online interview, made the statement after he was asked about Senate President Francis Escudero’s accusations that lawmakers are blindly following Romualdez.
Escudero made this claim after complaining that House members are being too pushy regarding Vice President Sara Duterte’s impeachment, noting that if it is the job of House lawmakers to follow Romualdez’s stand on the impeachment blindly, he is not obliged to do so as Senate President.
READ: Escudero slams solons for dictating how VP impeach trial should go
“And I personally, my experience with him is that he tries to be inclusive. So naturally, we gravitate towards what we believe are shared obligations and responsibilities. It does not necessarily mean that once we do approve a certain bill or measure unanimously, it doesn’t necessarily mean that we are obeying blindly the directive of the leadership,” Adiong noted.
“I don’t recall any instance where the Speaker told us directly to do such a thing. In fact, if there are propositions, if there are recommendations and proposals brought about by the leadership, everyone is entitled, everyone is given the due course to share their own opinion, whether you agree or you do not agree,” he added.
According to Adiong, Romualdez has tried to be inclusive, gathering support for the administration’s legislative agenda, which led to the passage of bills certified urgent by the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (Ledac).
“I guess the Speaker has displayed the inclusive type of his leadership and that kind of inclusivity naturally gravitates every one of us to support whatever legislation that is considered to be urgent and priority. In fact, that’s the reason why we have already 100 percent complied with all the considered urgent bills and measures under the Ledac,” Adiong said.
“It’s just, it only means to say that all of us, though each and every individual members of the House has her or his own opinions and interpretation, but one thing is certain and one thing is common among us […] we know and we understand our shared obligation and we do gravitate towards what we believe are true and needed for the country,” he added.
San Juan Rep. Ysabel Zamora, meanwhile, said that as lawyers for the House’s prosecution panel, they do not have a choice but to do their job and pursue Duterte’s impeachment.
“We do not just follow the Speaker blindly, I will say it again, nobody was forced to sign the impeachment complaint. We had discussions before the signing of the impeachment complaint,” Zamora said.
“The complaint, the draft was circulated, we were all given copies of the complaint, and we were able to read it — for me, I read it several times before signing it, because I am a lawyer. I signed it only after reading it several times, after asking questions among my lawyer friends in Congress,” she added.
Zamora recalled that last February 5, before Duterte was impeached, lawmakers who attended the meeting were allowed to speak and ask questions, noting that Cagayan de Oro 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez raised some concerns.
“There are lawmakers who talked, our example is Cong. Rufus Rodriguez. He stood up to ask several questions. So nobody was forced there. No,w if you will say that we follow the Speaker blindly, we prosecutors are just doing our jobs under the 1987 Constitution,” she said.
“We would be remiss in our duties if we did not prepare for the impeachment, whatever noise there may be. So we are just doing our jobs, now if they will insist that they are not blind followers of the Speaker too, like we are […] I hope they just do their jobs under the 1987 Constitution,” she added.
Several other lawmakers have already spoken against Escudero’s insinuations that House members are blindly following Romualdez. On Thursday, Deputy Majority Leader and La Union 1st District Rep. Paolo Ortega V said that while Romualdez is a guiding light for lawmakers, no one was forced to follow him.
READ: Speaker serves as guide, but nobody is forced to follow him – Solon
On Wednesday, Manila 2nd District Rep. Rolando Valeriano said that he has never met Romualdez personally and discussed anything in private with him, noting that the only time they met was during plenary sessions.
According to Valeriano, his decision to support Duterte’s impeachment came from the desire of people in his district, adding that he might have lost in the 2025 midterm elections if he had not signed it.
Bataan 1st District Rep. Geraldine Roman, meanwhile, said that Romualdez has been quiet about the impeachment, even saying last Monday that it is up to the Senate to decide on the matter.
READ: Sara Duterte impeachment now up to Senate – Romualdez
As early as last week, there were concerns whether the impeachment would push through after Escudero rescheduled the presentation of the articles of impeachment.
Escudero earlier sent a letter to Romualdez inviting the House prosecution panel to present the articles before the Senate plenary on Monday, June 2, and scheduled the impeachment proceedings to start on Tuesday, June 3.
However, last Thursday, Escudero sent another letter to Romualdez, informing him that the reading of the articles will be rescheduled to June 11. This will be the Senate’s last session day before the 19th Congress closes its session.
Fears that the impeachment will no longer push through intensified after sources revealed to 好色先生TV and other media outlets that a draft Senate resolution seeking to dismiss the impeachment raps against Duterte due to the lack of time to discuss the matter was being circulated among some senators.
READ: Estrada confirms there’s a reso seeking to scrap Duterte’s impeachment trial
Several past and present House lawmakers believe that dismissing the impeachment complaint against Duterte through a mere Senate resolution will be unconstitutional, as a trial should be conducted first before judgment is made./coa
