Marcos on Arroyo ‘demotion’: Just a run of the mill in the House

Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's removal as senior deputy speaker is "just a run of the mill that comes once in a while in the House of Representatives.

Thus, said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. when asked to comment on the former president being relegated to a deputy speaker after the House elected another Pampanga congressman as Speaker Martin Romualdez's top deputy.

Pampanga Rep. Aurelio "Dong" Gonzales has taken over as senior deputy speaker.

Asked what thought of on the sudden demotion of Arroyo from a senior deputy speaker to just a deputy speaker, Marcos said, "If you're in government long enough, you have seen many of this."

"In my time as congressman, I had two terms as congressman, nakatatlo yata kaming ganyan eh and this is is just part of reorganization," Marcos said.

"The Speaker, it's his prerogative as to how he feels the House should be reorganized," he added.

"I don't think not any of us know what it all means, where the chips will fall after all of this reorganization. I think we should also be careful to not read too much into it," Marcos said.

"I really see it as just a run of the mill comes once in while, run of the mill na ginagawa sa House," he added. 

The House on Wednesday voted to replace Arroyo with Gonzales as senior deputy speaker.

In a statement on Wednesday night, Arroyo said the move was "the prerogative of the House."

On Thursday, Arroyo issued another statement denying reports that she was plotting to oust Romualdez from the speakership.

‘Inday Sara very plainspoken’

On Friday, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte announced her irrevocable resignation from the Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD) party.

Before the resignation, Sara was the party chairperson.

While she did not mention the reason for her resignation, Duterte said the Filipino people's trust in her to lead the country cannot be poisoned by "political toxicity" or undermined by "execrable political powerplay.”

Asked for comment on Sara’s resignation, Marcos said he understood why the Vice President mentioned "political toxicity" as she had a lot of things to do and that she had to focus on her duties.

"Very simple. Exactly as she says… Inday Sara is very plainspoken... kung ano 'yung sinabi, 'yun ang ibig sabihin niya. She has too much work to do, she cannot be involved in all of this. She cannot allow herself to be distracted. That's the way I read it," Marcos said.

"It's true kung titingnan mo ano 'yung mga hinaharap niya eh talagang madami talaga. Hindi niya pwedeng... to be involved in whatever it is that's going on,” he added.

“She has to concentrate on her job as the Secretary for the DepEd and now NTF-ELCAC. Marami talaga siyang gagawin. I can understand why sasabihin niya ayusin niyo muna 'yan. Gagawin ko muna 'yung mga kailangan kong tapusin," Marcos said. —NB, GMA Integrated News