Romualdez denies attacking VP Sara

House Speaker Martin Romualdez on Friday denied that he has made attacks against Vice President Sara Duterte, saying he even misses working with her.

Romualdez was responding to the statement of Vice President Duterte about their relationship which went: “The very best description and comment kung ano ang relasyon namin ni Speaker Martin Romualdez ay galing kay Senator Imee Marcos— marami ang hindi nakakaintindi, bakit inaatake mo ang kaalyado ng administrasyon.” 

(The best description of my relationship with the Speaker came from Senator Imee Marcos. A lot of people could not understand, why attack an ally of the administration.) 

“On my part, I have not attacked any ally of this administration. I don’t know what she is talking about. I respect her as the Vice President and as Secretary of Education, she has my full support. I don’t know what I have said or done to attack her,” Romualdez told reporters.

“Please identify those actuations, if any. Kung nakikinig siya sa mga marites o kaninong senadora diyan, that is up to her,” he added.

(If she hears these from gossipers or any senator, that’s up to her.)

Missing Sara

Romualdez then reminisced the days when he and Duterte were always together. Romualdez, as president of Lakas-CMD party, campaigned for then Davao City mayor and Lakas-CMD chairperson Duterte in the 2022 vice presidential polls.

“Maski papaano, may pinagsamahan. Maski [sinabi niya na] wala akong kinalaman sa pagka-vice president niya, I was her campaign manager, and we worked very, very hard together. I was very, very happy that she was successfully elected with a very, very, high mandate,” he said.

He then went on to say that he misses those days.

“I congratulated her, I wish her nothing but all the best. I respect her. I wish her nothing but the best. Sa totoo lang po, namimiss ko siya, [dati kasi] parati tayong magkasama, but with our work now…she is the Vice President and secretary of DepEd and me being the Speaker, we don’t get to see each other as much,” Romualdez pointed out.

“I miss working well with her, but I can only wish her all the best and she has my full support as Vice President and DepEd secretary,” he added.

During the heat of the deliberations on the proposed P5.768 trillion budget for 2024 in September last year, the House vowed to strip multiple agencies of confidential fund, including the Office of the Vice President and the Education department, saying the realignment is needed to fund agencies directly mandated to protect national security. 

Duterte responded by saying that those against confidential funds are enemies of the state.—AOL, GMA Integrated News