Arroyo denies role in alleged plot to oust House Speaker Dy

April 10, 2026 | 12:22pm

MANILA, Philippines — Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has spent a quarter-century in the middle of Philippine speakership fights: engineering them, surviving them, or denying she had anything to do with them — sometimes all at once. This week, she has found herself back in familiar territory.

The Pampanga congresswoman on Friday, April 10, issued a statement categorically denying involvement in a reported move to unseat House Speaker Bojie Dy III, in response to reports linking her to a speakership grab allegedly backed by Vice President Sara Duterte.

"I categorically deny the allegations concerning the supposed ouster of Speaker Bojie Dy that surfaced yesterday," Arroyo wrote in a social media post. "I reaffirm my confidence in his leadership of the House of Representatives. Our mutual support, which began many years ago with his late father, remains unbroken."

The reported effort to install Arroyo as speaker has been linked to attempts to halt the impeachment proceedings against Duterte. 

According to reports, recruitment efforts among Metro Manila and Mindanao lawmakers had garnered fewer than 30 supporters — far short of the 160 needed to elect a new speaker in the 318-member House. 

The ouster talk surfaced around a week before the House justice panel is set to resume hearings on two impeachment complaints against Duterte. The second hearing is scheduled for April 14, after the Supreme Court declined to issue a temporary restraining order sought by Duterte's camp. 

The House speaker said the justice panel would proceed in accordance with the Constitution and that all parties would be heard. Duterte faces allegations of fund misuse, threats against the first family, and unexplained wealth.

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Arroyo's history with power grabs

Arroyo has denied involvement in speakership plots before. In May 2023, she rejected reports of a move against then-Speaker Martin Romualdez. At the time, she acknowledged her own history of reversing public commitments — she ran for president in 2004 after saying in 2002 she would not — but said she no longer had speakership ambitions. 

Her track record in House leadership fights however is extensive. In February 2008, Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. was removed through a motion to vacate. De Venecia accused Arroyo, who was president at the time, of engineering his removal.  

In July 2018, the start of President Rodrigo Duterte's State of the Nation Address was delayed by nearly half an hour after the House informally convened to elect a new speaker. Arroyo won a majority of votes, ousting Pantaleon Alvarez. She and then-Davao mayor Sara Duterte were said to have driven that effort.

Most recently, Romualdez resigned the speakership in September 2025 after being implicated in a controversy over anomalous flood control projects. Dy was elected to replace him with 253 votes.