Respect Sara as much as Bongbong, says Martin

Amid a now-resolved row over secret funds, House Speaker Martin Romualdez has rallied "support" and "respect" for Vice President Sara Duterte.

"We should all support and respect the Vice President. The same respect and support that we should extend to the President and other government officials," Romualdez said on Sunday.

He made the remark in reaction to a video posted on X, formerly Twitter, where he was seen having a brief encounter with a Duterte supporter, who was flaunting a placard that read "Please support VP Inday Sara Duterte."

"I agree with the overseas Filipino worker who greeted me in Japan with a placard bearing a significant message," Romualdez added.

Romualdez was part of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s entourage in the Commemorative Summit for the 50th Association of Southeast Asian Nations-Japan Friendship and Cooperation.

 The Speaker's short interaction with the Duterte supporter in Japan, uploaded by netizen Ely Saludar, gained mixed reactions from netizens. The video has garnered 379,00 views as of writing.

To recall, Romualdez and the Dutertes traded barbs over the House's decision to strip civilian agencies, including the Office of the President and the Department of Education, both headed by Sara, of multi-million in confidential funds to channel it to security agencies, such as the Philippine Coast Guard amid Philippine-China dispute in the West Philippine Sea.

The VP sought P500 million and P150 million in confidential funds for the OVP and DepEd, respectively, under the 2024 budget.

The House's realignment of funds irked his father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, who posited that the realignment was politically motivated and has something to do with 2028 polls, in which Romualdez and the VP are perceived as front-runners.