BICOL solons led by National Unity Party (NUP) president LRay Villafuerte have cited Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez for his “decisive, result-oriented leadership” that has transformed the House of Representatives into a pivotal partner of President Marcos in his overriding goal to sustain a robust economy post-pandemic and make growth sustainable and inclusive for all Filipinos.

The NUP president along with fellow Camarines Sur Reps. Miguel Luis “Migz” Villafuerte and Tsuyoshi Anthony Horibata issued this statement in underlining their strong, continued support for Romualdez at the helm of the bigger, highly productive chamber of the 19th Congress.

“Because of his decisive, result-oriented leadership, Speaker Martin (Romualdez) has managed to shepherd through the 300-plus strong House this early the final approval of all of the President’s priority bills for the year—three months ahead of schedule,” Villafuerte, a former Camarines Sur governor, said.

“The House has certainly been a highly productive legislative chamber on the Romualdez watch, crafting a substantial number of social protection measures in support of the commitment of President Marcos not to leave any Filipino behind in his Administration’s quest for a peaceful and prosperous nation,” said Migz Villafuerte, also a former governor.

Horibata said, meanwhile, that, “Under the Speaker’s leadership, the bigger chamber has likewise passed a substantial number of measures meant to further stimulate the economy post-pandemic, and create more jobs and livelihood opportunities in step with the Marcos administration’s goal of inclusive high growth.”

Villafuerte and the two other CamSur congressmen said the earlier-than-expected passage in the chamber of all 20 priority bills targeted for approval by the President and the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) by end-December 2023, along with the Speaker’s active participation in Mr. Marcos’ successful investment missions overseas, has “transformed the House into a pivotal partner of this Administration in its agenda for keeping our post-pandemic economy on a high-growth track to ensure more jobs and better living standards for Filipinos.”

Pointing to a report by Trade and Industry Secretary Alfredo Pascual, Villafuerte and his fellow CamSur solons said that all of the President’s investment trips abroad since he assumed office last year, and which the Speaker had participated in, have generated a combined P 1.4 trillion approved investment, representing an immense amount that would translate into quality jobs for our people and greater economic activity nationwide that could sustain our country’s growth momentum.

In keeping with the Speaker’s result-oriented leadership approach, the three lawmakers said that Romualdez has taken notable steps to help ease stubborn elevated inflation, which has posed risks to our growth momentum and eroded the spending power especially of ordinary Filipinos.

Villafuerte recalled that Romualdez has looked after Filipino consumers by holding meetings with oil industry players on taming the continuous price spirals of gasoline and diesel, and spearheading inspections of warehouses with the end goal of helping the government run after hoarders and profiteers responsible for the undue spikes in the retail prices of rice and other foodstuff.

According to Villafuerte, the House, under Romualdez’s leadership, has likewise helped the President strengthen on the short term our country’s protection of our seas—even as the government embarks on fast-tracking the Armed Forces modernization program to beef up our external defense on the long term—by realigning confidential government funds in the proposed 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA) to the respective outlays of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and other agencies dealing with West Philippine Sea (WPS) concerns.

The Villafuerte-led NUP, which is the biggest power bloc in the House next to the Speaker’s Lakas-CMD, was among the political parties in the chamber that had backed the realignment of funds for WPS-protection purposes, during the lawmakers final deliberations on next year’s national budget plan before their Sept. 30-Nov. 5 congressional break.

During the second LEDAC meeting last July 5, 20 priority bills were targeted for congressional approval by Dec. 31, 2023.

Villafuerte said that the House had passed all 20 priority bills before the congressional break began last September, which means the chamber, under Romualdez’s leadership, approved the measures three months before the Dec. 31 completion target.

Villafuerte had co-authored 9 of the 20 bills, namely, House Bill (HB) 6522 creating the Philippine Centers for Disease Prevention and Control Act; HB 6518 establishing the Health Auxiliary Reinforcement Team (Heart) Act; HB 6452 putting up the Virology and Vaccine Institute of the Philippines (VIP); HB 6687 returning the National Citizens Service Program; HB 7327 on E-Governance; HB 7325 on the Magna Carta of Filipino Seafarers; HB 7240 rightsizing the national government; HB 8969 on the Military and Other Uniformed Personnel (MUP) Pension Act; and HB 8278 revitalizing the moribund Philippine salt industry.

Because the House had been converted into a hardworking, highly productive chamber on Romualdez’s watch, Villafuerte said this once-criticized legislative body has won public approval as one of the government’s top performers.

He said that more than half of Filipinos approve of the House’s performance, based on the third-quarter Ulat ng Bayan survey of the prominent pollster Pulse Asia that showed a 54% approval rating for the chamber’s performance.