Barzaga bolts House majority amid alleged coup vs. Speaker

Dasmariñas City Rep. Kiko Barzaga said Wednesday he has bolted out of the majority coalition in the House of Representatives and left the National Unity Party (NUP) after he was suspected of being involved in a plot to unseat Speaker Martin Romualdez.

“Yes, I resigned from NUP and the House Majority, mostly due to internal party conflicts. I was accused of removing Speaker Romualdez, which I denied,” Barzaga told reporters in a chance interview.

In an earlier statement, Barzaga said Deputy Speaker and Antipolo Rep. Ronaldo Puno falsely accused him of being involved in the oust Romualdez plot.

“I have been informed that Deputy Speaker Puno, the chairman of the NUP, implicated me in a plot to remove Speaker Romualdez from his position, and that I am collecting signatures to do so. That notion is false,” he said.

In the same statement posted on Facebook, Barzaga said that the House infrastructure committee flood control probe should also investigate Romualdez.

“While the betrayal of trust is disappointing, I believe it is in the best interests of both myself and the National Unity Party that we go our separate ways, I will also be leaving the majority since I voted for Speaker Romualdez due to my party's instructions,”  Barzaga said.

“I supported Speaker Romualdez due to this, though now that I am free from my party's constraints, I suggest that he must be investigated for any anomalies involving flood control funds, specifically during the time when he was given the caretaker position of my district upon my father's death on April 27, 2024,” Barzaga added.

Sought for comment, Puno denied Barzaga’s allegations but confirmed that the neophyte lawmaker has resigned from the party.

“[It is] not true that we have accused him of anything. Today was the first time I ever really spoke to him. Hello/Hi lang kami before today,” Puno told GMA News Online in a Viber message.

Puno said his conversation with Barzaga today, September 10, was also the same time that the neophyte lawmaker informed the NUP chairman that he is leaving the party.

“I haven't received his resignation letter yet but when I do, we will accept it. And we wish him well,” Puno added.

Asked if Barzaga explained his reasons for leaving the party, Puno said solon did not say much.

“He said it would be better for all of us. He didn’t explain [beyond that],” Puno said.

NUP is part of the majority coalition in the House, which also includes the Nacionalista Party, Nationalist People’s Coalition, Party-list Coalition, Lakas-CMD, and Partido Federal ng Pilipinas.

Barzaga is the son of former congressman Elpidio Barzaga and Dasmariñas City Mayor Jenny Barzaga.—LDF, GMA Integrated News