285 lawmakers back Romualdez as House speaker

Speaker of the House Martin Romualdez acknowledges the applause after lawmakers voted to impeach Vice President Sara Duterte at the House of Representatives in Quezon City, Metro Manila on February 5, 2025. | Photo by JAM STA ROSA / AFP

MANILA, Philippines — Speaker Martin Romualdez is poised to retain his post in the 20th Congress, with 285 incoming representatives—including four Liberal Party members—expressing support for his continued leadership, Deputy Speaker David Suarez announced on Sunday.

Suarez, who was reelected Quezon second district representative, said in a statement that the massive support for Romualdez’s continued leadership in the next Congress showed the reelected Leyte first district lawmaker remained the “most unifying, competent and effective choice” to lead the chamber in the second half of the Marcos administration.

“As of today, 285 House members have expressed support for Speaker Romualdez, with 278 lawmakers having already signed formal declarations, including four out of six members of the LP who are now part of the larger movement for legislative continuity and national stability,” he said.

READ: House exec: Speaker Romualdez has supermajority in 20th Congress

Suarez noted that Romualdez has earned the trust of the current and incoming lawmakers of the 316-member House through principled, results-oriented leadership, adding, “what we are witnessing is no longer just support from traditional allies—it’s a political groundswell cutting across the entire spectrum.”

Suarez also noted that Romualdez is also heeding the President’s call for results-oriented leadership, as demonstrated by the House of Representatives’ swift approval of the majority of priority measures aligned with the Chief Executive’s legislative agenda.

Broad coalition

He said the House supermajority bloc now included the Lakas Christian Muslim Democrats or Lakas-CMD, the Nacionalista Party, the National Unity Party, the Nationalist People’s Coalition, the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, the Party-list Coalition Foundation Inc., and the LP.

“Leadership in the House is about bringing people together to pass meaningful laws. Speaker Romualdez has done that, time and again,” Suarez said. “The unity we now see among House members reflects a collective commitment to stability, progress, and responsible governance under his stewardship.”

Lawmakers have credited Romualdez’s leadership in the 19th Congress for the timely passage of national budgets, the advancement of vital economic reforms and the House’s seamless collaboration with the executive branch.

“He has kept the House focused on outcomes that matter. That’s what institutions need—leaders who work quietly but deliver consistently,” Suarez said.

Will reelected Rep. Paolo Duterte of Davao City’s first district rise up to challenge Romualdez as his sister, Vice President Sara Duterte, had been urging him to do?

The congressman kept mum and refused to release a statement to the media, a source close to him told the Inquirer.

The Vice President earlier told reporters in Davao City that she had been urging her brother to eye the speakership after he won by an overwhelming vote in the city’s first district during the recent elections.

Asked whether the Dutertes could muster enough numbers to wrest the speakership of the House, she only said that if her brother could not win as speaker, then he should gun for the minority leadership in the House. — with a report from Germelina Lacorte