Arroyo saw 'nothing new' with House resolution to support Romualdez

MANILA, Philippines —  Former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Wednesday shrugged off the loss of her deputy speaker title at the House of Representatives, explaining that she did not sign the resolution by the lower chamber's leaders to defend House Speaker Martin Romualdez as she was abroad at the time and it was "nothing new." 

"In any case, that Resolution does not contain anything new for me, because I have always supported [Romualdez’] leadership as Speaker,” Arroyo said, referring to House Resolution 1414, which sought to condemn recent remarks by former President Rodrigo Duterte against Romualdez and the House.

House leaders ousted Arroyo and Rep. Isidro Ungab (Davao, 3rd District) from their deputy speaker positions in Tuesday’s plenary session and elected Rep. Antonio Tonypet Albano (Isabela, 1st District) and Rep. Yasser Balindong (Lanao del Sur, 2nd District) to replace them.

The two lawmakers were stripped of their titles because they did not sign House Resolution 1414 and “demonstrated that their perspectives differ from the collective stance of the leadership,” House Majority Leader Manuel Dalipe said.

RELATED: Demoted again: House removes Arroyo from deputy speaker position

Arroyo said that she will continue to support Romualdez “as an ordinary Congressman” and has long “given up any plans to aspire for the Speakership again, in this and any future Congress that I would have the honor to be a part of.”

“If some intriguers were able to convince Speaker Romualdez of the falsehood that I do not support his leadership in the House, then there is nothing I can do,” Arroyo added.

House Resolution 1414 calls on the House to "(uphold) the integrity and honor of the House of Representatives" after Duterte said on live television that Congress was "the most rotten institution" in the country and that Romualdez was allegedly engaged in corrupt activities.

On October 15, House party leaders criticized Duterte for “(maligning) the very institution that… supported many of his own legislative priorities" in the years he served as president.