House Speaker Martin Romualdez Files House Resolution 94
MARTIN ROMUALDEZ – The House Speaker filed a resolution seeking for watchdogs’ participation in the budget deliberations in the lower chamber.
Prior to the 4th State of the Nation Address or SONA of Pres. Bongbong Marcos, the Senate and the House of Representatives voted on their leaderships. In the Senate, Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero managed to remain in the Senate presidency after getting 19 votes.
In the House of Representatives, Speaker Martin Romualdez who was reportedly poised to remain in his post in the 20th Congress also managed to get the top post in the lower chamber. His nephew and presidential son Ilocos Norte 1st District Representative Sandro Marcos was elected as House Majority Leader in the 20th Congress.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez’s wife, Yedda, is also a representative of Tingog party-list along with their son, Andrew Julian “Marty” Romualdez, who also sits as a representative of the said party-list.
The senators and the members of the House of Representatives are now back to work with the opening of the 20th Congress. Recently, House Speaker Martin Romualdez filed a resolution seeking for the participation of the watchdogs during the budget deliberation in the chamber.
Based on a report on GMA News, Speaker Martin Romualdez filed the House Resolution 94 which calls for bonafide people’s organization’s accreditation and invitation for participation in the deliberations of the House committee on appropriations and its sub-committees in the crafting of the 2026 national budget and the future annual General Appropriations deliberations.
It is clarified in the House Resolution 94 that the watchdogs will be non-voting observers during the budget deliberations. Furthermore, under the resolution, the House committee on appropriations, in coordination with the Committee on People’s Participation, will draft guidelines for the qualification of the watchdogs as well as the accreditation process. Once passed, the measure will also mandate the specification of the scope of participation of the watchdogs during the budget deliberations.
“Let this resolution affirm the commitment of the House of Representatives to uphold democratic governance, participatory budgeting, and inclusive national development,” the Resolution authored by House Speaker Martin Romualdez reads.
Tingog party-list representatives Yedda Romualdez and Andrew Julian Romualdez were co-authors of the House Speaker in the Resolution 94. Based on the report, the other co-author is Jude Acidre who also represents the Tingog party-list.
Previously, during his SONA 2025, the President claimed that he will not approve budget proposals that are not in line with the plan of the government. The said statement of Pres. Bongbong Marcos over the national budget earned a comment from Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero who defended the Congress.