House deputy speaker Gonzales resigns from PDP-Laban

Senior deputy speaker Aurelio Gonzales has resigned as a member of the once-ruling PDP-Laban, formerly chaired by ex-president Rodrigo Duterte, amid a dispute between members of the House of Representatives and the former president over issues of of confidential funds.

Gonzales announced his departure from the party before the House plenary on Monday, minutes after Speaker Martin Romualdez addressed the lower chamber, to clap back at critics who call into question the institution he heads in the thick of hot-button issues involving confidential funds, which they realigned to security agencies.

Prior to his resignation, he served as the national treasurer of PDP-Laban.

Romualdez's address and Gonzales's resignation took place during the resumption of the second regular session of the 19th Congress after a month-long recess.

During the session, the Pampanga lawmaker, who sponsored House Resolution 1414, seeking to uphold the honor and integrity of the House, verbally identified Duterte as the person accountable for undermining and assaulting the distinguished and respected institution.

"The one who uttered that word is our chairman from PDP-Laban. Before I will answer, I will resign now as member and officer of PDP-Laban. The former president Rodrigo Duterte, the one who said that," Gonzales said in response to the challenge posed by independent opposition lawmaker Edcel Lagman to name the person responsible for the House's attacks.

Members of the House, for their part, manifested before the plenary floor their overwhelming backing for Romualdez and the adoption of the resolution.

Gonzales was among the numerous lawmakers who pushed back and vowed not to tolerate Duterte's insinuations against Romualdez and the entire House, which he accused of having a "hidden pork barrel."

Gonzales added said his peers stand firmly behind Romualdez–whom Duterte accused of corruption and sabotaging his daughter, Vice President Sara Duterte's request for P650 million in confidential funds in the 2024 budget–in maintaining a dynamic, socially coherent and independent legislature.

To recall, the House earned the ire of the former president after it stripped the VP of the multi-million secret funds and realigned it to security agencies in charge of monitoring and protecting the country's national security and territorial rights in the West Philippine Sea amid China's president encroachment.

The realignment sparked a word war between the erstwhile president and members of the House, with the older Duterte claiming there was a political agenda behind the move.

The VP, who sought P500 million and P150 million in confidential funds for the Office of the Vice President and the Department of Education, respectively, previously accused critics of her secret funds of having "insidious motivations."