The incoming representatives of Negros Occidental are supporting the bid of Rep. Martin G. Romualdez (Leyte, 1st District) to be the Speaker of the House in the 19th Congress.
“The National Unity Party, which I belong to, has declared its support to Cong. Martin Romualdez,” Rep.-elect Alfredo Marañon III (Negros Occidental, 2nd District), said on Sunday, May 15.
Rep. Juliet Marie Ferrer (Negros Occidental, 4th District) is also a member of NUP.
Rep.-elect Mercedes Alvarez (Negros Occidental, 6th District) and Rep. Gerardo Valmayor (Negros Occidental, 1st District) also said they are supporting Romualdez.
“Our party, NPC, has already signified our support to Rep. Martin Romualdez,” Alvarez said.
Bacolod Rep. Greg Gasataya is also an NPC member.
Rep.-elect Emilio “Dino” Yulo (Negros Occidental, 5th District) who ran as an independent also said he is supporting Romualdez.
Rep. Francisco Benitez (Negros Occidental, 3rd District) of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino Lakas ng Bayan could not be reached for comment but PDP-Laban president Alfonso Cusi announced on Saturday that their party is also supporting Romualdez.
Former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (Lakas CMD) has also thrown her support behind Romualdez.
Romualdez, who joined a gathering of Party-list Coalition Foundation Inc. (PCFI) members in Rockwell, Makati City, on Saturday, May 14, called on his colleagues to set aside politics in order to get the job done.
Present at the gathering was former Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon of the P34PWD Partylist.
Romualdez and Sandro Marcos, son of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., went to Guanzon and shook her hand at the affair.
“So I accepted their polite gestures this afternoon. I still say BBM should pay P203 B taxes and the deficiency income tax for which he was convicted by the courts,” Guanzon said in a Tweet Saturday evening.*