
Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr., HREP photo.
MANILA, Philippines — Senior Deputy Speaker Aurelio Gonzales Jr. has disputed assertions from fellow Deputy Speaker Vincent “Duke” Frasco about the House of Representatives needing a unifying leadership, noting that the chamber is already united.
Furthermore, Gonzales said on Monday that lawmakers from Visayas and Mindanao are happy with House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez’s leadership — contrary to Frasco’s claims.
Frasco earlier said that he refused to sign the manifesto of support for Romualdez after talking to different local leaders from Visayas and Mindanao, who were supposedly disappointed with the House leadership.
“Why, isn’t the current Congress united? The Congress is united, I am not seeing any division because of the leadership of our Speaker, Speaker Martin Romualdez. The mere fact that 285 members for the 20th Congress signed the document, it is a manifestation that they really prefer the leadership of the sitting speaker. It’s that simple,” Gonzales, speaking in mixed Filipino and English, said in an interview.
READ: NUP expels Duke Frasco for not supporting Romualdez, says Villafuerte
“All Congress persons in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao are all happy. They are all happy, I have not heard of any issue about the leadership of Speaker Martin. So, I am also confused, because we have the Mindanaoan lawmakers coming to our offices, when we visit Visayas, they are thankful,” he added.
According to Gonzales, he did not feel any inclination from Frasco that the latter would no longer support Romualdez, noting that he has not talked to the deputy speaker since Congress went into break for the election.
The manifesto of support, Gonzales said, was discussed with the National Unity Party (NUP) leadership and not individual members.
“Regarding the statement of Duke Frasco, of the Deputy Speaker, we are both deputy speakers as I am the Senior Deputy Speaker, he is always there presiding over the session, we have the schedule to preside, we are doing this and we do not know why we have this kind of issues,” Gonzales said.
“I don’t know, I haven’t been able to talk to him right after our long break, election break. I didn’t know that he did not sign, because it was the NUP party whom we were talking to, headed by the chairman, the president. So, meaning to say, there is a direction from the chairman and the president, of course, the members,” he added.
Over the weekend, it was revealed that Frasco has been expelled from NUP. It was NUP president and Camarines Sur 2nd District Rep. LRay Villafuerte who made the announcement, adding that party is expelling Frasco for “contravening the party’s official position to support Romualdez.”
NUP is one of the political parties belonging to the super majority coalition that is backing Romualdez to remain at the helm of the lower chamber in the next Congress.
Earlier, Villafuerte claimed that Frasco is just using his criticism of Romualdez as a bargaining chip to keep his deputy speaker post into the 20th Congress — allegedly arm-twisting Romualdez so that he will still stay as a House official.
“Duke seems to be the one advancing his own selfish personal and partisan interests,” Villafuerte claimed. “Frasco has slighted the official NUP position of support for Congressman Martin as a shrewd political ploy to arm-twist the Speaker into keeping him as Deputy Speaker in the incoming Congress,”
“Duke was expelled last week for sowing disunity and discord himself in making his unilateral move to withdraw support from Congressman Martin in blatant contravention of the NUP’s unanimous support for the Speaker to keep his post in the next Congress—and without first consulting our party,” Villafuerte said.
Aside from this, Villafuerte also noted that it is not Romualdez, but Frasco who is sowing discord as the House lawmakers have been standing behind the Speaker, and another possible stint in the 20th Congress.
Gonzales is not the first Deputy Speaker who spoke out on Frasco’s statement. Earlier too, Deputy Speaker David Suarez said that if Frasco is looking for unity, then the support that Romualdez got through the same manifesto that he refused to sign is enough proof.
According to Suarez, 285 members of the House have signed the manifesto as of today.
Last May 25, Suarez announced that there is a wide coalition backing Romualdez’s leadership, effectively creating a supermajority.
Aside from NUP and Romualdez’s party Lakas-CMD, Suarez said the supermajority bloc consists of the Nacionalista Party, the Nationalist People’s Coalition, Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, the Party-list Coalition Foundation Inc, and some members of the Liberal Party.
READ: Majority of LP members now part of House’s supermajority bloc
This new supermajority, Suarez said, shows that President Marcos’ call for unity still stands./mr