(Eagle News) — Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri was elected as Senate President, while Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, was elected as House Speaker on Monday, July 25.
The election of the leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives was done as Congress opened its session for the State of the Nation Address of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
Zubiri was elected by 20 senators, and was nominated by Senator Joel Villanueva.
Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and his sister Senator Pia Cayetano did not participate in the voting, while Senators Risa Hontiveros and Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III also abstained.
The Cayetano siblings said they would be “independent” senators in the 19th Congress, while Honiveros and Pimentel, by virtue of their abstention, are automatically considered members of the minority bloc.
At the House of Representatives, 282 lawmakers voted for Rep. Romualdez, President Marcos Jr’s cousin. Four abstained, while 22 other lawmakers did not vote automatically making them part of the Lower House’s minority bloc.
It was Pres. Marcos Jr’s son, Ilocos Norte Rep. Ferdinand Alexander “Sandro” Marcos, who nominated Romualdez for the position of House Speaker.
Batangas Rep. Ralph Recto also nominated Romualdez, citing his performance and long years as lawmaker, including his work “as majority leader and as independent fiscalizer.”
President Marcos Jr., is expected to deliver his first SONA at the Batasang Pambansa at around 4 p.m.
(Eagle News Service)