PBBM explains why Speaker Romualdez is an indispensable travel companion

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. has made crystal clear the importance of Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez’s participation in his trips abroad, especially when foreign investments are among the top agenda.

In one of his speeches during the 50th ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation Commemorative Summit in Tokyo, Japan, Marcos essentially described Speaker Romualdez as an indispensable companion to such trips.

This, as the Philippine leader assured the country’s partners in the region that all of their input–which might need the benefit of legislation to realize and maximize–are taken into account.

“That is why the Speaker of the House of the Represntatives of the Philippines is here, accompanying us, on what is essentially is a business delegation but because of the laws in the Philippines dictate that all revenue measures that are undertaken or new laws that are revenue measures must originate from the House of Representatives,” President Marcos said, referring to Speaker Romualdez.

Speaker Romualdez, Leyte’s 1st District congressman, is the leader of the 300-plus-strong House. He is often referred to as Marcos’ top ally in the legislature.

“I would like to stress and reiterate to our valued partners here today that we continue to listen to the issue the you bring up,” President Marcos said during the four-day summit.

He said these inputs include “all your concerns and suggestions on what needs to be done to continue supporting and ensuring the success of investment in the Philippines”.

“As we have recently demonstrated, we take due note of the valuable feedback we received from you and we worked closely with Congress to enact much needed legislation that we hope will answer your needs and concerns,” added the Chief Executive.

For his part, Speaker Romualdez has repeatedly said that the House of Representatives–which is the bigger chamber in the bicameral Philippine Congress–would be responsive to the needs of the Marcos administration, especially in the bid to woo more investors to the country.

The Speaker has recently bared plans to revisit economic Charter change (Cha-cha), as he believed that amending the restrictive economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution would lead to more foreign direct investments.