Lawmaker believes House opposition divided

MANILA, Philippines - A pro-administration lawmaker believes the opposition in the House of Representatives is “decimated and divided.” 

Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone said a number of reelectionist opposition lawmakers were defeated in the last elections.

Outgoing Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez is the current minority leader, while re-elected Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez of Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats can still count on 28 party members. 

Romualdez is expected to challenge Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. in the race to lead the House on July 22.

Newly elected San Juan City Rep. Ronaldo Zamora is also eyeing the speakership.

Neither Romualdez nor Zamora have the numbers to defeat Belmonte, whom President Aquino endorsed on Monday as speaker during a luncheon at Malacañang.

The administration bloc that would back Belmonte is comprised of lawmakers from the Liberal Party (LP), the Nacionalista Party (NP), the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), National Unity Party, Centrist Democratic Party and some party-list groups.

The defeated candidate for speaker with the highest votes becomes the minority leader. It is not yet clear how many votes Romualdez or Zamora can muster.

Among the key opposition lawmakers who lost in the election were Occidental Mindoro Rep. Amelita Villarosa, Lanao del Sur Rep. Hussein Pangandaman, Siquijor Rep. Orlando Fua, and several party-list lawmakers.

Senator-elect JV Ejercito Estrada said Zamora, who ran under the local party Partido Magdiwang, which is affiliated with Estrada, will most likely join the NP.

Suarez said he earlier held talks with Zamora for a possible alliance to solidify the minority bloc, but that Zamora wants to challenge Belmonte.

“He (Zamora) said he’s going for it (speakership),” he said. “They must have the numbers if you combine the two (NP and Lakas), then you get a bigger number.” 

Also possibly complicating alliances in the House is the entry of eight lawmakers from the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) of Vice President Jejomar Binay and Manila Mayor-elect Joseph Estrada.  

UNA took an opposition stance in the last elections.

Navotas Rep. Tobias Tiangco, UNA spokesman, is likely to side with the minority as his wife is Romualdez’s cousin and he has long been a critic of the administration, Evardone said.

However, UNA members Representatives Gwendolyn Garcia of Cebu, Abigail Binay and Monique Lagdameo of Makati have already indicated they will join the majority bloc, he added.

Evardone said it was not also clear how comfortable Tiangco can be in the minority bloc as many of them are allies of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. 

Belmonte said he was thankful for the support from Aquino even as he vowed the House would continue to work hard in crafting reform legislation to help sustain the country’s growth.

“It’s hard to say how the 16th Congress will look like – two established personalities are vying for it, Martin (Romualdez) and Ronnie (Zamora),” he said. “I’m sure they have friends who would rather be in the majority but might get enticed by either. However, the followers of the loser might not necessarily join the winning minority leader.”           

The LP has 110 members, the NPC, 43; NP, 20; and NUP has around 30. The House in the 16th Congress will have 143 reelected members, 25 returning lawmakers, 66 neophytes, and as many as 60 party-list representatives.