HOUSE Deputy Majority Leader and Rep. Jude Acidre of Tingog Party-list today has come out with a statement of support for House Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez, which the Tacloban-based group has credited for the prolific performance of the House of Representatives in the current 19th Congress.
“I stand with the House of Representatives. I stand with Speaker Martin Romualdez,” Acidre said in a statement Wednesday.
“Speaker Martin Romualdez’ strong leadership has made it so for the House of Representatives, making the lower chamber a true House of the People,” Acidre said.
Acidre highlighted that the House of Representatives has earned the highest approval and confidence rating in recent years,with Speaker Romualdez receiving the highest performance satisfaction rating ever for an incumbent leader of the lower chamber.
The results of the Pulso ng Pilipino tracking survey of The Issues and Advocacy Center (The CENTER) for the third quarter of 2023 showed that Speaker Romualdez posted a net satisfaction rating of 60 percent.
“In a little more than a year, the House under Speaker Romualdez has passed and approved on third reading almost all of the priority legislative measures indicated by the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC),” Acidre said.
Acidre said House has made sure that its policy-making was coupled by concrete initiatives to ensure to bring government services, especially social assistance programs, closer to the people.
This has paved the way for increased political engagement between our legislators and their constituents, he noted.
“Our legislative performance, coupled with our social service programs, confirms that this Congress is one of the most productive and hardworking ever in the country’s recent political history,” he said.
Furthermore, Acidre underscored that the House chose to do the “right thing” by its decision to realign P1.23 billion worth of confidential funds under the proposed P5.768-trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB) for 2024 .
“Congress, in the exercise of its power of the purse, has chosen to do the right thing by realigning confidential funds to agencies whose primary mandate relate to military intelligence and security, especially in the West Philippine Sea (WPS),” Acidre said.
Acidre also noted that the House hasn’t been a headache for the Commission on Audit (COA) and has a spotless record.
“The Commission on Audit has already certified that there has been no incident of fund misuse in the House of Representatives. Quoting the official statement of the House Secretary-General, ‘Ibig pong sabihin, pasado kami sa COA audit,” he said.
“Instead, the House has posted a budget surplus of ₱4.69 billion in its 2022 allocations, an increase of ₱2.05 billion, or around 78%, compared with the excess funds in 2021 of ₱2.64 billion based on official COA reports,” it further said adding, “The numbers don’t lie.”
Acidre also hailed the Speaker for building a consensus among the supermajority of House members, allowign them “to work effectively and efficiently, thus earning their strong trust and support”.
“He has ensured the full participation of the House leadership in running the affairs of the House – and has continually consulted the party leaders on important political decisions,” Acidre said.