Arroyo slams rumors about First Lady's hand in House coup spat

Published May 28, 2023 04:03 PM By JON VIKTOR D. CABUENAS,GMA Integrated News

Pampanga Representative and former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo over the weekend denied anew involvement in any supposed House coup, as she denounced reports that it had the blessings of First Lady Marie Louis “Liza” Araneta-Marcos.

In a statement released Sunday, Arroyo responded to reports that she was supposedly duped by a congresswoman into thinking that the alleged plan to oust House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez was backed by the First Lady.

“I am truly sorry that she should even be dragged into this political fantasy of a House coup — it is disrespectful to her and to her intelligence,” she said.

“Whoever is spreading these pathetic rumors are the ones duping the Filipino people, and they should now move on to the serious business of making positive contributions to national progress,” she added.

Earlier, Arroyo denied reports that she was plotting a coup against Romualdez, a cousin of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., as she said some of her actions may have been “misconstrued.”

Following such reports, the House of Representatives elected Pampanga Representative Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales, Jr

. as Senior Deputy Speaker, which House Majority Leader Manuel Jose “Manix” Dalipe said was to unburden Arroyo “of the heavy load required from this position.”

In her statement, Arroyo said that no House coup could ever succeed without the consent of the President, and that she would “never” take any action to destroy the supermajority of the UniTeam in the House.

“I did not have any conversation, here or abroad, with any congressman or congresswoman, or any other politician active or retired, to plot, support, encourage, or participate in any way in any alleged House coup,” she said.

For his part, Marcos said Arroyo’s removal as senior deputy speaker was just a “run of the mill” in the House, and that Romualdez had the prerogative as to how he feels the House should be organized.

Romualdez and Gonzales have since shown their respect to Arroyo, as they did the “pagmamano” or placing Arroyo’s hand on their foreheads. —LBG, GMA Integrated News

 

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