By Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio, Reporter
Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez resigned on Wednesday amid mounting criticism of his alleged role in the Philippines’ multibillion-peso flood control scandal, triggering a leadership shakeup in the House of Representatives just a week after a similar change in the Senate.
“The issues surrounding certain infrastructure projects have raised questions that bring not only upon me, but upon this institution we all serve,” he told the House floor. “The longer I stay, the heavier that burden grows on me, on the House, and on the President.”
Mr. Romualdez’s resignation is the culmination of a broader congressional leadership shakeup that had been brewing since early September, and has already triggered a change in Senate leadership, with Senator Vicente “Tito” C. Sotto III replacing Francis G. Escudero amid a fallout from the flood control scandal.
Reports of irregularities in infrastructure contracts have fueled public outrage after a series of typhoons and monsoon rains earlier this year left Metro Manila and nearby provinces flooded despite extensive flood-control projects.
Isabela Rep. Faustino “Bojie” Dy III was shortly nominated as Speaker after Mr. Romualdez’s resignation, a lawmaker widely believed to be the anointed successor to lead the 317-member chamber.
Voting was ongoing.
Mr. Dy, 64, is a member of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s Partido Federal ng Pilipinas and returned to Congress after last serving as a congressman in the 2000s. He held provincial posts after, including a three-term stint as governor of Isabela, a northern province where his family maintains political influence.
The Speaker post carries significant political clout and is traditionally held by an ally of the sitting President. It holds influence over the chamber, where tax measures and the annual national budget originate, and plays a key role in steering administration priorities through the House.
A change in the House leadership is seen as a “continuity” move for the Marcos administration and might be aimed at shielding the President’s allies from blowback following backlash over alleged ties to shady infrastructure deals, said Arjan P. Aguirre, who teaches political science at the Ateneo de Manila University.
“The leadership change might be an attempt by the Marcos bloc to preempt any potentially untoward consequences from the ongoing probe into the flood control mess,” he said by telephone.
Reports of anomalies in multibillion-peso infrastructure contracts have ignited public outcry and sparked pockets of protests across the Philippines, a country frequently hit by severe flooding.
