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Lawmaker: House tensions 'defused' after Arroyo demotion, Romualdez coup rumors

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<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez shakes hands with Deputy Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo during the oath-taking of Pampanga Rep. Aurelio " Gonzales="" as="" Senior="" Deputy="" Speaker="" at="" the="" plenary="" hall="" of="" House="" Representatives="" on="" May="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/life/05/22/20230522-arroyo-romualdez.jpg"/><figcaption>Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez shakes hands with Deputy Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo during the oath-taking of Pampanga Rep. Aurelio &quot;Dong&quot; Gonzales as Senior Deputy Speaker at the plenary hall of the House of Representatives on May 22, 2023. <em>House of Representatives/Handout</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA — Given the recent show of unity in the House of Representatives, a lawmaker on Tuesday urged the public to refrain from reading much into the recent moves at the lower chamber.</p><p>Surigao del Sur 2nd District Rep. Johnny Pimentel said the demotion of former President and Pampanga 2nd District Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was the prerogative of Speaker Martin Romualdez.</p><p>&quot;It was just a political exercise in Congress and I don&#x27;t think that we should exaggerate this anymore,&quot; he told ANC&#x27;s &quot;Headstart&quot;.</p><p>&quot;I believe the tensions have already been defused with what we have seen yesterday when Senior Deputy Speaker Congressman Dong Gonzales took his oath in the presence of former President Gloria Arroyo. </p><p>&quot;We went about the session in a normal, business as usual day. It was a routinary day, there were no tensions, there were no commotions,&quot; he added.</p><p>Pimentel also insisted it was within the Speaker&#x27;s power to reorganize the lower House and thwart any move to destabilize the chamber.</p><p>&quot;I believe the hype on these rumors, these coup d&#x27;état rumors is already over,&quot; he said.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/17/23/house-replaces-arroyo-as-senior-deputy-speaker">House replaces Arroyo as senior deputy speaker</a></li></ul><p>Romualdez and Arroyo appeared together at the oath-taking of the new Senior Deputy Speaker on Monday.</p><p>This was the first time they were seen together since Arroyo&#x27;s demotion last week and after allegedly plotting to overthrow Romualdez, which she denied. </p><p>Arroyo was replaced by another lawmaker from her province, Pampanga 3rd District Rep. Aurelio &quot;Dong&quot; Gonzales Jr.</p><p>Romualdez has asserted that the lower House is still in order.</p><p>Both Pimentel and Gonzales belong to PDP-Laban.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/19/23/arroyo-denies-coup-plot-against-romualdez">Arroyo denies &#x27;coup&#x27; plot against Romualdez after demotion</a></li></ul><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2625450" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Given the recent show of unity in Congress, a lawmaker urged the public to not read much into the recent moves at the lower chamber.