Former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was replaced as Senior Deputy Speaker for reportedly plotting a leadership coup with the aim of ousting House Speaker Martin Romualdez.
During Wednesday’s session (May 17), the House elected Pampanga Rep. Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr. to take over Arroyo’s post. The former President was named Deputy Speaker instead.
An Iskooper claimed that Arroyo has been making the rounds among lawmakers to court their support for her election as Speaker. Romualdez reportedly got wind of the former President’s plan and demoted her.
Arroyo’s allies, most of whom are reportedly loyal to former President Rodrigo Duterte, are said to be keen on ousting Romualdez for either of two reasons: charter change and the possible impeachment of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
It is believed that Romualdez will thwart any move to impeach Marcos since they’re cousins. For impeachment proceedings to succeed, the Speaker must be independent of the sitting president.
Having an independent Speaker could spell doom for a president, as former President Joseph Estrada knows too well.
In 2000, then-House Speaker Manny Villar railroaded Estrada’s impeachment, ordering the immediate transmittal of the complaint against the then-President to the Senate.
Estrada was ousted in a popular uprising in January 2001 after the impeachment trial in the Senate fell through. He was replaced by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who was then the vice president.
Arroyo, who’s now the congresswoman of Pampanga’s second district, is known to be close to Vice President Sara Duterte, who engineered the 2018 leadership coup at the House.
The maneuver, which happened during the opening of the second regular session of the 17th Congress, saw Arroyo replacing Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez as House Speaker.
If Marcos is convicted in an impeachment trial, Vice President Duterte will become the president.
There’s also speculation that Arroyo is also keen to become Speaker again because she has ambitions to become prime minister. Once she has control of the House, charter change might have better chances to succeed and there could be a shift to a parliamentary form of government.
The statements from Arroyo and the House leadership about the former President’s demotion indicate there’s more to the move than simply being an administrative matter.
After the session ended, House Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe said Gonzales was elected Senior Deputy Speaker to “unburden” Arroyo “of the heavy load required from the position.”
Arroyo’s response? “It’s the prerogative of the House.”
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