MANILA – The House of Representatives is now poised to welcome three members of the Romualdez family, following the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) approval of Tingog Sinirangan’s revised list of nominees — paving the way for Yedda Marie Romualdez to return as the party-list’s third representative.
“The Commission, after due deliberation, resolves to adopt the above recommendations of the Law Department on the new list of nominees of Tingog Sinirangan (TINGOG) Party-List,” the Comelec en banc stated in Minute Resolution No. 25-0831.
TINGOG secured 1,822,708 votes in the May 12, 2025 midterm elections — enough for three congressional seats. However, controversy arose after third to fifth nominees — Marie Josephine Calatrava, Alexis Yu, and Paul Muncada — paving the way for Yedda, originally listed as the sixth nominee, to take the third slot.
“They may be removed as nominees, and, thus, based on the list submitted, TINGOG Nominee No. 6, Yedda Marie Romualdez, may be certified as the next qualified nominee,” the Comelec explained.
Once officially proclaimed, Yedda will join her son, first nominee Rep. Andrew Romualdez, while her husband, Leyte 1st District Rep. Martin Romualdez, already holds a high-ranking post in Congress.
The development has drawn sharp criticism from advocates of electoral reform, who argue that the situation underscores the exploitation of the party-list system by political dynasties. Critics lament the lack of an anti-dynasty law and lenient substitution rules, which they say have allowed dominant families to co-opt what was originally meant to be a mechanism for marginalized sectors.
Yedda previously served as TINGOG representative from 2019 to 2025 and as Leyte 1st District congresswoman from 2016 to 2019./PN
