VP-elect Sara stands witness as Romualdez couple, Acidre vow to help PBBM heal, unite PH

TACLOBAN CITY – HOUSE Majority Leader and Leyte 1st District Rep. Martin G. Romualdez on Wednesday morning took his oath here as reelected representative of the 1st District of Leyte before a barangay chairman with Vice President-elect Sara Duterte as witness.

Romualdez took his oath before Brgy. 109-A Chairman Rodolfo Padillo at the Remedios T. Romualdez Medical Foundation Gymnasium in Calanipawan Road as representative of Leyte’s 1st District.

Tingog Representatives-elect Yedda Marie K. Romualdez and Jude Acidre as well as Tacloban City Mayor Alfred S. Romualdez also took their respective oaths before Court of Appeals (CA) Associate Justice Bautista G. Corpin Jr.

They thanked Duterte for attending the event.

“First of all, congratulations to each and everyone for a very successful election.

It is an honor to be here with all of you during this momentous occasion, as I take my oath as one of the representatives of Tingog Party-list for the coming Congress. Allow me to also express my deepest and utmost gratitude to all of you. As you all know, Tingog Party-list has garnered a total of 886,959 votes in the recent election, making it the Top 3 Party-list nationwide! We will not be here today if not for your support and efforts. All that hard work has definitely paid off,” said Rep. Yedda Romualdez, chairperson of the House committee on welfare of children.

“We have achieved so much in our first term in Congress, and now, we have been given another chance to serve the Filipino people. I am fully confident that through our continued collaborative efforts, we can achieve long-lasting progress for the betterment of our region and our entire country,” she added.

An 8 a.m. thanksgiving mass was held at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish Church before the ceremonial oath-taking at 10 a.m.

Members of the Romualdez family led by the congressman’s wife, Rep. Yedda Romualdez, Duterte, local officials and supporters attended the mass and oath-taking.

In addition to Tacloban City, the 1st District is composed of the towns of Alangalang, Babatngon, Palo, San Miguel, Tanauan, Sta. Fe, and Tolosa.

Rep. Romualdez had no opponent in the May 9 elections.

The House leader’s colleagues in the incoming Congress, who belong to various political groups, have endorsed him to be their Speaker.

These groups include Lakas Christian Muslim Democrats, of which Romualdez is president, PDP-Laban, National Unity Party (NUP), Nacionalista Party (NP), Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), Party-list Coalition Foundation, Inc. (PCFI), the group of independents, and neophyte or first-term House members.

Romualdez has vowed to help the incoming administration of President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. deliver on its campaign promises of healing and unity, getting the country out of the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and on to sustained economic growth, and of championing the people’s interests.

He has been appealing to his colleagues and to Filipinos to put politics behind and support the new leadership in facing the enormous challenges ahead and moving the country forward.

The country’s new set of leaders will begin their term of office at noon on June 30.

The incoming 19th Congress will not convene until 25 days later, on July 25, as set by the Constitution.

That is when the House of Representatives and the Senate will elect its new officials.

That is also the day President-elect Marcos Jr. will deliver his first State of Nation Address (SONA) before a joint session of Congress.