Romualdez seen to keep House speakership

By Tracy Cabrera

Despite political tremors following the administration’s dismal performance in the 2025 midterm elections, Leyte 1st District Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez is expected to retain the House Speakership, according to Leyte 4th District Rep. Richard Gomez.

Gomez, a known ally of Romualdez, dismissed speculations of a leadership shake-up in the Lower House, saying the Speaker still enjoys solid backing from a majority of his colleagues.

While another relative of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has hinted at the possibility of replacing Romualdez, key allies maintain that the Speaker commands the numbers needed to keep his post.

The administration’s poor electoral showing—securing only six out of 11 senatorial seats under the Alyansa para sa Bagong Pilipinas slate—has raised internal tensions, with some pointing to the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio as a turning point.

Navotas Rep. Tobias “Toby” Tiangco, who managed the administration’s senatorial campaign, went public with criticisms last week, attributing the midterm losses to the Lower House’s impeachment of Duterte-Carpio in February.

He claimed the President was against the impeachment and that some lawmakers signed the complaint under the premise that budget releases for their districts would follow.

“Impeachment wasn’t necessary back then. It was useless exercise. Because as I told them, even if you sign it now, on February 5, it would still be tackled by the Senate only by June 2. So what happened? There really was a backlash,” Tiangco cited.

“The impeachment was totally within our control. If we hadn’t done it, things wouldn’t have turned out this bad,” he added.

While Tiangco’s remarks carried weight due to his own familial ties to the President—through cousin Michelle Romualdez-Yap—other Romualdez allies were quick to counter his claims.

Tingog Party-list Rep. Jude Acidre noted that 100 out of 115 pro-impeachment lawmakers seeking reelection won their races, including 36 of 44 from Mindanao, home turf of the Duterte family.

“Just to set the record straight, these results dismantle the narrative that the impeachment was a political liability. What we’re seeing is a public that values courage over complicity. The people have drawn the line, and they stood with us,” Acidre noted.

“With due respect to Representative Tiangco, the numbers simply do not support that claim,” he further stated.

Meanwhile, House Deputy Speaker and Lakas-CMD treasurer David “Jayjay” Suarez asserted that Romualdez is poised to retain his leadership, citing a manifesto signed by at least 240 members of the House.

“This is already a supermajority. It’s over. The Speaker has the numbers,” Suarez pointed out.

He added that “with this kind of broad support, any attempt to challenge the Speaker’s leadership is simply unrealistic.”