Sara Duterte on House speakership shakeup: Just for show

Vice President Sara Duterte on Thursday dismissed the recent leadership change at the House of Representatives as just for show.

“’Yung pagpapalit nila ng Speaker d'yan ay para lang 'yan masabi ng mga tao na meron silang ginawa sa House of Representatives sa reklamo at sa galit ng mga tao. Pero ang totoo niyan ay sila lang din 'yan,” Duterte told reporters in an interview in Davao.

(The change in House leadership was just for show so they can say that they did something to appease the public’s woes. But in reality, they are just the same people.)

“Grupo lang din 'yan ni Martin Romualdez, ni Sandro Marcos, and of course, siyempre, papunta na rin 'yan kay BBM,” she said.

(They are still part of the group of Martin Romualdez, Sandro Marcos, and of course, that would lead to BBM.)

Isabela 6th District Representative Faustino "Bojie" Dy III replaced Leyte 1st District Representative Martin Romualdez as House Speaker on Wednesday after the latter stepped down from his post.

However, Duterte alleged that Dy has strong ties with Isabela Governor Rodolfo Albano, whom she said is a close ally of Romualdez.

“Sila lang din 'yun, sila-sila lang din 'yan, at sila-sila lang din nag-usap kung ano ang gagawin nila, at sila-sila lang din ang nagplano kung anong gagawin nila sa 2026 budget because this is all about the presidential elections of 2028 and the budget of 2026,” she added.

(That is still the same people talking and planning on what to do with the 2026 budget as this is still about the 2028 presidential elections.)

Meanwhile, the Vice President urged President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to prohibit House lawmakers from flying outside the country or resigning to “evade accountability” on the national budget mess. 

“Hindi niya dapat hinahayaan yung mga congressman na basta na lang umalis ng bansa o basta na lang mag-resign to evade accountability doon sa mga nakita natin na pag-chop-chop ng budget natin at pagkuha ng pera ng bayan para bumili sila ng mga properties, bumili sila ng mga jets, bumili sila ng properties abroad at lahat noong kanilang — na makikita natin sa lifestyle nila,” she said.

(He should not allow congressmen to just go abroad or resign to evade accountability for what we saw—the chopping of budget and taking people’s money to buy properties here and abroad and jets. We can see that in their lifestyle.)

'No direction'

Duterte also said she sees “no stability” in the current government institutions amid the leadership shakeups both in the House and the Senate.

“Magulo siya kasi unang-una walang vision, walang direction, walang plano. Nakikita mo puro sila politika at paninigurado na may pera sa bulsa at 'yung election nila sa susunod na darating na election. Ganoon ang makikita mo na ginagawa ng gobyerno,” she added.

(It is unstable because first, there is no vision, direction, nor plan. They are only focusing on politics, making sure they have money, as well as the next elections.)

Duterte was in Davao City to participate in the 2025 Davao Investment Conference (ICON) and Davao Agri-Trade Expo.

House Deputy Minority Leader Antonio Tinio of ACT Teachers party-list and House Assistant Minority Leader Renee Co of Kabataan party-list surmised that public anger and distrust in government also played a huge factor in the changing of the guard.

“The choice of the new Speaker is definitely, ultimately is the choice of the President. It is clear that the chosen one is from the PFP, who is a party-mate of the President. There is no doubt that the new Speaker is loyal to the President. Iyon ‘yung malinaw rito (This is what is clear here),” Tinio said in a separate press conference.

“But the administration is also managing a fallout due to the appalling corruption in government flood control projects before and during this administration. We saw that there is still a lot of space for manipulation of the appropriation, and it reached historic levels during this administration,” he added.

Co, for her part, said the Speakership change proves that the President’s allies are not on the same page four years into his administration.

“This is a sign of worsening infighting in the administration. Some forces want to expand their hold on power. Secondly, this change is due to widespread public outrage denouncing the flood control projects' corruption,” she said.

“This is part of damage control, to sanitize the stinky smell of corruption. Even if we change leadership, if the system of public officials using our laws to profit from public funds, nothing will change. There will be deprivation of basic social services, rather than a just, and better life, public funds are being used for personal gain. We really need to break down this system,” she added.

GMA News Online has also sought comments from Dy and Romualdez and will publish their comments as soon as they become available. —With Llanesca Panti/AOL, GMA Integrated News