By Junex Doronio

INSINUATING THAT SHE’S JUST A VICTIM of intrigues, Pampanga Second  District Congresswoman and former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Wednesday maintained her support for Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez as leader of the 316-member House of Representatives even after she was stripped of her post as Deputy House Speaker.

FPGMA said that there’s nothing she can do if some “intriguers” were able to sway Romualdez.

“There is always intrigue in politics, often petty. If some intriguers were able to convince Speaker Romualdez of the falsehood that I do not support his leadership in the House, then there is nothing I can do,” Arroyo said in a statement.

FPGMA explained why she failed to sign House Resolution 1414 that supports Romualdez’s leadership in the lower chamber.

“Some people told me that I was stripped of the ‘deputy speaker’ title because I did not sign House Resolution No. 1414 that expresses support for the leadership of Speaker Martin Romualdez,” the former president and now lawmaker said.

She stressed: “I was abroad when the resolution was signed, so I was unable to sign it. In any case, that resolution does not contain anything new for me, because I have always supported his leadership as Speaker.”

During the plenary session late Tuesday, November 7, the floor leader on duty, Cagayan 1st District Rep. Ramon Nolasco, Jr., made the successive twin motions that demoted both FPGMA and Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab to mere congressmen.

”This decision stems from the fact that out of the nine Deputy Speakers, only Deputy Speakers Macapagal-Arroyo and Ungab chose not to sign a pivotal House resolution sponsored by the entire leadership,” House Majority Leader Manuel Jose ”Mannix” Dalipe explained about replacing FPGMA and Ungab.

Since no one objected, House Deputy Speaker Roberto Puno quickly approved Nolasco Jr.’s motion.

The lower chamber then elected Rep. Antonio “Tonypet” Albano as deputy speaker replacing Arroyo, and Rep. Yasser Balindong as deputy speaker replacing Ungab.

FPGMA and Ungab are widely known as “loyalists” of Romualdez’s arch political rival Vice President Sara Duterte in the much-anticipated 2028 presidential race.

(ai/mnm)