A MAJORITY of Cebu’s lawmakers joined their 269 colleagues in reelecting Rep. Martin Romualdez of Leyte’s 1st District as House Speaker during the opening of the 20th Congress on Monday, July 28, 2025.
Romualdez secured the position without opposition, hours before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivered his fourth State of the Nation Address. Thirty-four lawmakers abstained.
Nine out of the 11 legislative representatives from Cebu Province and its independent cities voted in favor of Romualdez. They were:
Rep. Rhea Mae Gullas (1st District);
Rep. Edsel Galeos (2nd District);
Rep. Karen Hope Flores-Garcia (3rd District);
Rep. Sun Shimura (4th District);
Rep. Daphne Lagon (6th District)
Rep. Patricia Calderon (7th District)
Rep. Edu Rama (2nd District, Cebu City)
Rep. Junard “Ahong” Chan (Lapu-Lapu City)
Rep. Lolypop Ouano-Dizon (Mandaue City)
Abstention
Two Cebuano lawmakers, Rep. Rachel Marguerite “Cutie” del Mar (1st District, Cebu City) and Rep. Vincent Franco “Duke” Frasco (5th District) abstained.
Frasco explained his decision and declared himself an independent member of the House.
“This decision is grounded not in political convenience, but in principle and in my view of what the institution urgently needs: leadership that restores public trust, upholds the integrity of Congress and reinforces the President’s priorities with urgency and purpose,” Frasco said in a statement Monday.
Last June, Frasco was expelled from the National Unity Party (NUP) because he refused to sign a manifesto supporting the continued leadership of Romualdez for the 20th Congress. The NUP, which is part of the supermajority coalition backing Romualdez, deemed Frasco’s unilateral decision not to support Romualdez a clear breach of the party’s official position and a violation of party unity.
Meanwhile, Ouano-Dizon and Lagon had earlier expressed their support for Romualdez’s continued leadership.
“We have achieved many projects for Mandaue City due to the National Government’s support and Speaker Martin Romualdez’s significant help,” Ouano-Dizon said in a statement on Saturday, July 26. / CDF