Former Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon on Saturday defended her being photographed with politicians identified with presumptive president Bongbong Marcos.
Guanzon, who voted to disqualify Marcos and campaigned for Vice President Leni Robredo, attended a meeting House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez, where she also shook hands with Marcos' congressman-elect son, Sandro.
Guanzon drew flak on social media for the encounters, but she said she needed to work with Romualdez and Marcos in order to pass measures catering to persons with disabilities. Guanzon is with P3PWD party-list, which she said she will represent in Congress.
READ: Comelec's Guanzon Retires With Marcos Disqualification Undecided. What's Next?
"Mga [a]nak, wala tayong mapapasang batas and budget para sa mga PWD kung hindi tayo magtratrabaho with them," Guanzon said in a Facebook post.
"Hindi pwedeng kontra lang nang kontra, suportahan natin ang magagandang programa pero hindi magdadalawang isip na batikusin ang mali. Wala akong utang na loob sa kanila, kayo ang nagluklok sa akin dito," she added.
Romualdez, who is being pushed to become the next House Speaker, took the gesture between Guanzon and Marcos as a manifestation of "unity" which his cousin Bongbong had espoused during his presidential campaign.
"Tapos na yung eleksyon, tapos na yung politika. Magtrabaho na tayong lahat, magkaisa na tayong lahat, isang bansa, isang Pilipino. Lahat-lahat tayo para sa Pilipino," Romualdez said.
Guanzon, who retired from Comelec last February, made headlines earlier this year after she claimed that the resolution on the disqualification cases against Marcos was deliberately being delayed so her vote to disqualify would not be counted.
Commissioner Aimee Ferolino-Ampoloquio, who was assigned to write the ponencia or the main decision on the cases, denied that she was delaying the resolution, saying she was taking time to review the case records.
A resolution was eventually issued dismissing the disqualification cases. The Commission en banc also junked the appeal of the petitioners to reverse the earlier decision.
Marcos is headed to a landslide win in the May 9 elections, garnering over 31 million votes. His cousin, Romualdez, is being pushed to become the next House Speaker.
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