Business as usual at the House for now, says Ilonggo lawmaker

By Joseph Bernard A. Marzan

MANILA — Iloilo 1st District Rep. Janette Loreto-Garin said Friday, Sept. 19, that leadership assignments in the House of Representatives (HOR), including committee roles, will remain unchanged following the election of Rep. Faustino Dy III of Isabela’s 6th District as the new House speaker on Sept. 17.

Loreto-Garin, one of nine deputy speakers, affirmed this in an interview with DZMM Radyo Patrol 630.

“Based on my understanding, at this point of time, [there are] no [changes in leadership positions], but as the need arises, [there may be],” she said.

“We know that the root of all of this is that there were intrigues and accusations where the names of some of our colleagues were being dragged,” she added.

She hinted that there may be future discussions on possible changes depending on whether any House leaders are implicated in the ongoing flood control fund controversies now being investigated by the HOR, the Senate, and the executive department.

Loreto-Garin said the final decision on whether to remove members from their leadership posts would be left to Speaker Dy.

Following his election, Dy told the House plenary he would not “defend the guilty [nor] shield the corrupt,” and pledged to support the Marcos administration’s newly formed Independent Commission for Infrastructure.

“We also know that there is still information we don’t know,” she said.

“So, as the need arises—for example, if there is a colleague who will be tagged [in anomalies], because investigations will take a huge amount of time, and at the same time so as not to taint the House—if [they] are part of the leadership, we will have that conversation.”

“We will leave that, of course, to Speaker Dy to decide, but it seems that that will be his beat,” she added.

Romualdez’s fate

Loreto-Garin also said the fate of former speaker Rep. Martin Romualdez of Leyte’s 1st District would depend on him.

She said Romualdez had already signaled his intention to step down due to the growing controversy implicating some members of the 19th Congress.

“He’s [Romualdez] still the representative of the 1st District of Leyte,” she said.

“He had also expressed [resignation] for quite some time.”

“He kept telling a few members, and later many members in Congress, that he was thinking of stepping down,” Loreto-Garin shared.

“Because the speakership is a full-time job, and because of the accusations, which happened under the previous [19th] Congress, he had a view that the institution was [under] fire and he has to make the ultimate sacrifice, to have a new face,” she added.