Image Courtesy of: House of Representative

HOUSE Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez on Friday called upon the Department of Health (DoH) and local government units (LGUs) to provide assistance to individuals affected by the volcanic smog, known as vog, originating from Taal Volcano.

He emphasized the importance of helping residents in areas surrounding Taal Volcano, such as Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, and even Metro Manila, in dealing with this temporary issue.

Speaker Romualdez urged the DoH and LGUs to distribute N95 face masks and other protective gear to those affected.

He mentioned that Deputy Majority Leader Erwin Tulfo informed him that the DoH still has an ample supply of N95 face masks acquired during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In order to shield affected residents from volcanic dust and harmful gases, Speaker Romualdez made this request to the DoH through Ako Bicol Partylist Rep. Zaldy Co, who chairs the House Committee on Appropriations.

He suggested that if face masks are currently unavailable, residents could consider using makeshift face coverings such as cloth.

The leader of the 311-member House of Representatives also called upon the DoH and LGUs to be prepared for potential respiratory issues that may arise due to volcanic smog in the affected regions. He recommended prepositioning drugs for respiratory ailments in areas where they might be needed.

Reports on Thursday indicated that haze from Taal Volcano’s emissions had spread over Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, and Metro Manila, leading to the suspension of classes.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) and the air monitoring office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) later clarified that the observed smog originated from vehicle emissions rather than from Taal Volcano. Phivolcs noted that Taal’s emissions were drifting west-westward, away from Metro Manila.

Image Courtesy of: House Speaker Martin Romualdez (Facebook)

By Junex Doronio

EXPECTING A SPIKE of the costs of canned goods and other basic foods as a result of the series of oil price hikes, Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez is planning to convince food manufacturers to forego their plans to increase prices of their products.

“Nauunawaan naman namin na maging sila ay apektado. But we will appeal to their sense of compassion and ask them if they can find a way to manage until Christmas,” Romualdez stressed.

He added that supermarket associations will also be invited to a dialogue in order to hear their concerns.

“We will attempt to convince them to at least postpone their plans, if there are any, until after Christmas in the spirit of the Yuletide season. Masyadong mabigat sa bulsa ang sabay-sabay na pagtaas ng mga bilihin kasabay ng pagtaas ng presyo ng krudo,” Romualdez said.

The House Speaker also pointed out that the PBBM administration is doing its best to alleviate the situation of the people, “but what we are experiencing is a world crisis.”

Romualdez is a first degree cousin of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Romualdez Marcos Jr.

“That’s why various agencies are ready to provide assistance because the government also feels the people’s predicaments,” Romualdez further said. (ai/mnm)

“The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned, but time and chance happen to them all.”

  • Ecclesiastes 9:11

STRESSING THAT HOARDING OF RICE is a heinous crime, presidential cousin Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez recently led another round of surprise inspection of rice warehouses in Bulacan, with the alert operatives of the Bureau of Customs.

Earlier report of Maharlika Nu Media’s Benjamin Cuaresma said that Romualdez, along with Erwin Tulfo, a representative from the Anti-Crime and Terrorism Community Involvement and Support (ACT-CIS) party-list, and Alvin Enciso, the head of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service (CIIS), carried out impromptu inspections at rice warehouses in Balagtas and Boaue, both located in Bulacan on Wednesday, August 30.

I believe Romualdez made the right move in giving Customs Commissioner Bienvenido Y. Rubio the marching order that rice smugglers and hoarders must be sent to jail.

“Yun lang ang warning natin sa lahat. Kung anong supply niyo ilabas niyo agad, wag niyo hintayin tumaas ang presyo sa world market. Nagbabantay kami at babalik kami dito. Kung kailangang i-raid ng Customs, ipapa-raid natin at kukunin natin at ibibigay natin sa mamamayan sa tamang presyo,” the congressman from Leyte pointed out.

Last Wednesday, Aug. 30, Romualdez also gave a stern warning to local rice traders to immediately release the rice stocks they have in their warehouses.

Apparently, these rice hoarders are sabotaging the PBBM administration’s intent to bring down the costs of rice in the market.

Many Visayans, particularly the Warays, have expressed their pride in Romualdez as a decisive leader and “real action man” unlike those elitist politicians who — at this early — are more preoccupied with preparing for the 2025 midterm elections and the 2028 presidential polls.

As I wrote earlier, it’s been a while since the Philippines had a President from the Visayas.

Sergio Osmeña Sr, of Cebu, was already 65 years old and the country’s vice president when he succeeded as Chief Executive upon Manuel L. Quezon’s sudden death in 1944.

Osmeña served as the fourth president of the Philippines from 1944 to 1946.

The second Visayan politician who became President was Manuel A. Roxas of Capiz.

Roxas served briefly as the third and last president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from May 28, 1946, to July 4, 1946, and became the first president of the independent Third Philippine Republic after the United States ceded its sovereignty over the Philippines.

Carlos Polistico Garcia of Talibon, Bohol was the eighth president of the Philippines.

After the death of President Ramon Magsaysay in March 1957, Garcia succeeded to the presidency. However, he won a full term in the 1957 presidential election.

Now, of all the possible presidential contenders in 2028, only Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez hails from the Visayas.

Is Martin Romualdez destined to be President in 2028?

It remains to be seen but as the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 9:11, “The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned, but time and chance happen to them all.”

(ai/mnm)

Speaker Martin Romualdez (left) and PBBM

SPEAKER Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez on Friday cited the major accomplishments of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Romualdez Marcos Jr. during his first year in office.

“The President did well on Year 1. Keep up the good work, Mr. President,” Speaker Romualdez said.

The President will be one year in office tomorrow, June 30.

For Speaker Romualdez, the most notable accomplishments of the Marcos administration are in the areas of helping ordinary Filipinos, sustaining economic growth, promoting the country as an investment destination, and in foreign relations.

He said the President did his best in trying to address the Filipinos’ daily-life concerns like rising consumer prices and lack of housing.

“Shortly after assuming office, he was confronted with spikes in the price of certain commodities like onions, which were selling for as much as P800 a kilo, and the basic staple rice,” he said.

Through a combination of measures, and with the help of Congress, the administration was able to bring down and stabilize the price of onions and rice, he said.

He noted that the House Committee on Agriculture and Food led by Chairman and Quezon Rep. Mark Enverga had conducted an investigation that exposed price manipulation, hoarding and cartels behind onion trading.

The House leader said the President decided to revive his father’s grassroots Kadiwa stores to buy farmers’ produce and sell agricultural products at low prices.

“He has a genuine concern, compassion and empathy for the poor,” he stressed.

The Speaker pointed out that in the area of housing, the President also had to draw from the experience of his father’s administration by resuscitating housing programs like BLISS (Bagong Lipunan Improvement of Sites and Services), which was a project of his mother, former minister of human settlements and First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos.

The Chief Executive has also launched Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino and ordered the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development to construct medium-rise and high-rise condominiums for the poor and government personnel, including soldiers and policemen.

Speaker Romualdez said sustaining the country’s economic growth is another noteworthy achievement of President Marcos.

“The economy grew by 7.6 percent and 7.2 percent in the third and fourth quarters of 2022, and 6.4 percent in the first quarter of this year. Those growth periods were the first nine months of the Marcos administration. I sincerely hope we could sustain it,” he said.

He said the impressive growth during the President’s first six months in office was the result of the Chief Executive’s decision to reopen the economy despite the lingering threat of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He added that multilateral financial institutions took note of the country’s economic expansion, which prompted the World Bank to upgrade its 2023 forecast from 5.4-5.6 percent to six percent.

The House leader emphasized that President Marcos actively promoted the country as an investment destination in his several trips abroad.

In these missions, the President likewise forged closer diplomatic, economic and cultural relations with the countries he visited, including the United States, he said.

“He has cultivated our ties with our old, reliable ally and partner, the US, and renewed bilateral discussions with China to uphold our interests in the West Philippine Sea and our exclusive economic zone,” he said.

Because of his remarkable accomplishments and his genuine concern for the poor and national interest, Speaker Romualdez said President Marcos remains immensely popular.

He noted that in the March survey of Pulse Asia, 78 percent of respondents approved of the President’s performance, with 80 percent saying they trusted the Chief Executive.

Publicus Asia’s second-quarter survey showed the President’s approval rating rose to 62 percent from 60 percent in the first quarter.

Some 68 percent of respondents in the same survey said the country was on the right track.

In another poll taken by OCTA Research Group in the first quarter, 54 percent said they expected their quality of life to improve, up from 51 percent from the previous survey; while 50 percent, from 46 percent earlier, stated that the economy would get better. (ai/mtvn)