Speaker vows House support for AFP amid coup rumors

MANILA, Philippines — Speaker Martin Romualdez assured the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) of House support despite former president Rodrigo Duterte’s warning of a brewing plot to oust President Marcos.

“On behalf of the members of the House, we would like you all to know, the members of the AFP, particularly you, the generals and the leaders of the AFP, that we stand beside you and we shall be in strong support of you every day of your lives,” Romualdez said at a fellowship night on Wednesday.

The House-AFP fellowship event at the Tejeros Hall in Camp Aguinaldo was also attended by Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. and AFP chief of staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr.

“As we work together, we are reminded that irrespective of our roles, we are part of one team – Team Philippines. Let this fellowship today be a testament to our commitment to working together and learning from each other and to build the nation where every Filipino can thrive,” Romualdez added.?

Congress adjourns

The House of Representatives churned out a total of 34 laws that Marcos signed since he took over the reins of government, or when the 19th Congress (2022-2025) convened in July 2022, Romualdez reported.

In a speech delivered Wednesday evening during Congress’ last session day for this year, the head of the lower chamber was proud of their “sterling accomplishments” under his leadership, thanking and congratulating his more than 300 colleagues for a job well done.

Romualdez noted that the 34 laws Marcos signed – out of the 9,763 measures filed – all emanated from the House, where only a few were taken and listed for “priority legislation” under the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC).

He recalled that all 20 measures during their second LEDAC meeting last July were passed by the House in September – three months ahead of schedule – while 17 priority bills Marcos listed in his 2023 State of the Nation Address were also passed seven months before his third SONA in July 2024.

In his closing speech, Romualdez disclosed that 663 bills approved on third and final reading are now awaiting action by their Senate counterparts.

He added that the House processed 28 legislative measures per session day out of the 121 session days they deliberated on these measures, which is 64 percent higher than the number of session days in the previous 18th Congress (2019-2022).

Meanwhile, the House has approved on third and final reading six priority measures listed by Marcos in LEDAC, thereby completing all urgent bills that needed to be approved before the year ends.

Among them were House Bills 9663 (National Water Resources Act); 8525 (Tatak Pinoy Act); 9662 (Blue Economy Act); 9648 (New Government Procurement Reform Act); 9673 (Philippine Cooperative Code of 2023) and 9674 (Revised Government Auditing Act).