The An Waray party-list is ready to support the bid of of House Majority Floor Leader and Leyte 1st District Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez in 2022.

An Waray party-list Rep. Florencio Noel on Friday said voters from Eastern Visayas would support Romualdez if he House leader will run for the second-highest position in the country.

“We don’t meet eye to eye in the political arena, but I will support him if nobody from the region is running for vice president. If somebody from the region will aspire for the same post, it will be a different story,” Noel said in a media interview.

Noel said Romualdez is very qualified to run as vice president since the latter is a lawyer and has served the House of Representatives for over a decade.

During the 2019 national elections, the An Waray party-list founded by Noel in 2004 and the Tingog Sinirangan party-list formed by the Romualdez clan vied for the vote from Eastern Visayas for party-list, resulting in negative campaigning by some supporters.

Both party-lists secured a seat in Congress with the wife of Romualdez, Yedda Marie as representative of Tingog Sinirangan.

In the local political scene, An Waray party-list is supported by politicians known as political opponents of Romualdez.

Noel’s remark came after President Rodrigo Duterte recently said he would support Romualdez if the latter decides to run for the second-highest position in the country.

On Thursday, Duterte announced his interest to run for vice president to “maintain the equilibrium.”

Reacting to the Chief Executive’s announcement, Romualdez said Duterte is very much qualified and capable to run for vice president.

“He remains very popular five years after his election as the 16^th president of the Philippines.”