House Speaker Martin Romualdez downplayed on Monday former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque’s pronouncement that Vice President Sara Duterte could be the new leader of the opposition bloc.

“That’s Mr. Harry Roque’s statement. But I guess we’ll have to just hear it from the VP, if and when the time comes for her to make statements, or to make any policy or statements on the policies of the national government,” Romualdez told reporters in a press conference.

Last week, Duterte made headlines following her “irrevocable” decision to leave the Marcos Cabinet as Secretary of the Department of Education and vice chair of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, which she headed for nearly two years.

The VP did not disclose the reason behind her resignation but asserted that it did not arise “out of weakness.”

Romualdez, the campaign manager for Duterte in the 2022 polls, said he respected Duterte’s decision.

“Obviously, we miss the closer interactions that we had during the campaign. Nonetheless, there’s politics and there’s personal [issues], and we only wish the Vice President nothing but the best — the best of luck in all her endeavors and her service to the Filipino people,” the House chief said.

The Romualdez-led House and the Dutertes once engaged in a heated tussle that initially stemmed from the former’s decision to realign the multi-million-peso confidential funds requested by the Office of the Vice President and DepEd in the 2024 budget.