THE House of Representatives has organized its working committees in record time — just two weeks since the 20th Congress opened on July 28 alongside President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s fourth State of the Nation Address.
House Majority Leader and Ilocos Norte Rep. Ferdinand Alexander Marcos said the momentum highlights the chamber’s determination to move decisively on the President’s Bagong Pilipinas legislative priorities.
“As of Aug. 6, upon the guidance of Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, we are proud to report that in record time, we have filled 76 out of 80 committee chairmanships — 95 percent of the total. This shows how serious we are in getting to work right away,” Marcos said.
Historically, organizing the House would take a month or more, making this collaborative achievement a resounding success for the 20th Congress.
Marcos said the speed of organization of the 20th Congress was about efficiency and giving lawmakers more time to act on urgent national concerns.
“The sooner we organize, the sooner we legislate. Every day we save means more time to craft solutions, respond to challenges, and deliver results for our people,” he noted.
Running unopposed, Romualdez was given a Congress a second term of Speakership, alongside Quezon Rep. David Suarez as senior deputy speaker, and presidential son Alexander Marcos as majority leader and chair of the Committee on Rules.
To complete its framework, the House also reelected secretary general Reginald Velasco and sergeant-at-arms Maj. Gen. Napoleon Taas (retired), reinforcing chamber’s operational stability.
Key leadership posts were filled just as fast, including the chairmanships of appropriations, justice, ways and means, agriculture, higher and technical education, foreign affairs, public works, basic education, energy, transportation, labor and national defense committees.
