"Quiet, unassuming, industrious"
"Quiet, unassuming, industrious"
In July 2019, after the midterm elections, the race was on as to who will be the next Speaker of the House of Representatives of Congress.
Three prominent personalities competed.
One was the overly ambitious Representative Alan Peter Cayetano, of the Cayetano political dynasty of Taguig City, who obviously wanted the Speakership badly.
Cayetano boasted of his alleged close ties with President Rodrigo Duterte as the latter’s unsuccessful vice presidential running mate in the 2016 national elections. For Cayetano, that connection was enough to cajole Duterte allies in the House to deliver to him the congressional throne.
After losing in the vice presidential derby and sitting out his one-year ban against rejoining the government, Cayetano eventually got the post of Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs. That post became too difficult for him to handle and so he was eventually kicked out and replaced with former Makati Representative Teodoro Locsin, Jr.
Another contender was Representative Lord Allan Velasco of the Velasco political dynasty in Marinduque. Unlike Cayetano, Velasco was less scheming and did not appear to lust after the Speakership.
Although the Constitution prohibits a member of the House from holding office for more than three consecutive terms, Velasco was on his fourth consecutive term.
Velasco’s handlers cited a previous ruling of the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) which they say authorizes Velasco’s fourth consecutive term. Legal experts, however, said that Velasco’s camp misread and misunderstood the HRET ruling.
Actually, Velasco could have been ousted from office through a petition for quo warranto in the HRET, but the HRET rules conveniently imposed an unrealistic 30-day reglementary period, reckoned from the date the representative was proclaimed winner by the Commission on Elections, within which to file the petition for quo warranto.
Fortunately for Velasco, nobody was able to file any petition against him in the HRET within that ridiculously short reglementary period.
Incidentally, Velasco’s father, incumbent Marinduque Governor Presbitero Velasco, Jr. was among those who drafted the HRET rules when he was a member of the said tribunal.
Still another contender was Leyte Representative Martin Romualdez, who also belongs to a prominent family identified with politics in Eastern Visayas. Compared to Cayetano and Velasco, Romualdez easily impresses many as the quiet, unassuming industrious type of leader.
Towards the finish line, President Duterte suggested a way out of the potentially divisive battle among the three contenders. The President said that Cayetano ought to sit as Speaker for the first half of the three-year term of the House, and Velasco can hold the office for the remaining half.
Romualdez, the President also suggested, would make a very good Majority Floor Leader in the House. The President also declared that Romualdez will be his bet for vice president in the 2022 national elections.
Well, that is precisely what happened.
Romualdez withdrew from the race and became Majority Floor Leader. Cayetano and Velasco reached a compromise, “a gentleman’s agreement” they called it, and Cayetano took the Speakership.
Unfortunately, Cayetano enjoyed being in power so much that when his time as Speaker was up, he made several underhanded attempts to muscle his way into staying in power. Eventually, exasperated House members unceremoniously booted him out as Speaker and replaced him with Velasco, who remains the incumbent.
For his part, Romualdez lived up to his role as Majority Floor Leader with flying colors. So impressed was President Duterte with Romualdez that on at least one more occasion since 2019, he said that Romualdez will be his bet for vice president in 2022.
Earlier this month, President Duterte repeated his public preference for Romualdez as his administration’s bet for Vice President in the coming elections.
From all indications, President Duterte did not forget his earlier endorsements of Romualdez for Vice President in 2022. Romualdez welcomes this development. For Romualdez, it is a pleasant realization that good things do come to those who are patient enough to wait.
Now that Romualdez has entered the political equation at the highest echelons of national government, many people welcome the prospects.
Romualdez is a bright lawyer with sterling credentials from the University of the Philippines, Cornell University and Harvard University. His many years in the House have never been tarnished by any scandal or controversy. The countless pro-people laws he shepherded in the halls of Congress attest to his statesmanship.
The job of the Vice President is to help the President steer the Ship of State, and to be ready to do the steering himself should anything untoward happen to the President.
That job requires competence, industry, patience and integrity, and Romualdez meets those requirements to the hilt.
With Sara Duterte as President, and Romualdez as Vice, good old President Duterte will be assured that his admirable hopes and aspirations for the country will continue unimpeded beyond his term.