There is something in the 1987 Constitution that does not like Speakers of the House to become president, so much so that all three who aspired for the highest post in the land failed miserably.

The first to fall was Speaker Ramon Mitra Jr. of the second district of Palawan, who presided over the 8th Congress from June 23, 1987, to June 30, 1992. Mitra defeated then-Defense Secretary Fidel Ramos during the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) party convention in 1991, which merely set the stage for the one that mattered most.

A year later, Ramos emerged on top in the election that counted — the presidency. FVR became the country’s 12th president by a plurality of only 23.6% after the ballots were counted, narrowly edging Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, who came in second.

This is despite the fact that Mitra enjoyed the backing of “10 of 23 incumbent senators, 121 of 198 congressmen, 43 of 73 governors, and nearly half of 1,538 mayors,” according to a report published by the Los Angeles Times. Mitra finished a distant fourth behind Ramos, Santiago, and former Ambassador Eduardo Cojuangco of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC).

A similar fate befell Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr., who represented Pangasinan’s 4th district. Unlike Mitra, who was not supported by President Corazon Aquino, De Venecia enjoyed the all-out support of President Ramos, a cabal who was born in Lingayen.

As proof of this, de Venecia was untouched in the 9th and 10th Congress from July 27, 1992 to June 30, 1998.

De Venecia was the architect of the merger of the Lakas-NUCD, which brought together the National Union of Christian Democrats and the Union of Muslim Democrats and made it the dominant party. He advocated the so-called “rainbow coalition” composed of the LDP, NPC, and Lakas-NUCD to control the House throughout the Ramos presidency.

The emerging Speaker’s jinx, however, spoiled de Venecia’s plans in the 1992 elections when he lost heavily to President Erap Estrada, who received a total of 10,722,295 votes against the former’s 4,268,483, just enough to edge Sen. Raul Roco for second place.

Third on the chopping block was Speaker Manuel Villar Jr. of Las Piñas. Villar was widely viewed as the one most likely to end the Speaker’s jinx. His role in the impeachment of President Estrada made sure Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo wouldn’t go all-out against him despite the latter’s endorsement of then-Defense Chief Gilberto Teodoro.

Villar was the first of the three speakers of the 11th Congress, succeeded by Rep. Arnulfo Fuentebella Camarines Sur of the 3rd district of the NPC in a coup mounted by Estrada allies. The Liberal Party’s Feliciano Belmonte Jr. of the 4th district of Quezon City took over four days after President Arroyo was sworn in.

The death of President Corazon Aquino changed the political landscape for the 2010 elections. It eventually catapulted her son, then Sen. Benigno Aquino III, to the presidency. Villar was elected Senate President after his brief stint as Speaker from July 27, 1998 to Nov. 13, 2000, becoming the first and so far only World War II official to lead both Houses.

One of the wealthiest men in the country, Villar was the frontrunner during the initial stage of the campaign, but his lead fizzled out in the home stretch.

His political base was eroded by the non-stop aerial bombing spearheaded by broadcast giant ABS-CBN, who, up to that point, was the acknowledged kingmaker in Philippine politics. The Lopezes unabashedly supported the eventual winner, President Noynoy Aquino, not surprisingly due to the ties that bound the two families. Former President Estrada, who was allowed to run again after failing to finish his term, turned out to be Aquino’s closest pursuer despite his unceremonious exit from power. Villar came in third over Teodoro, which was a disappointing end to a promising start. 

Talks of the speaker’s jinx have once more been stoked by the increasing visibility of incumbent Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, even in executive functions. A first-degree cousin of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Romualdez has been accused of orchestrating the persecution of the Duterte family, including Vice-President Sara Duterte, former President Rodrigo Duterte, Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte, and Davao City first district Cong. Paolo Duterte, as well as their allies.

Vice-President Duterte, who has been leading all surveys for the 2028 presidential elections, put it plainly that the persecution is due to the perception that her family poses a threat to the Marcos and Romualdez families’ intention to perpetuate themselves in power.

Just over two years as speaker, Romualdez has started to make his move. The initial results have not been encouraging. He is faring poorly in all surveys for the next presidential election despite his near-total control of Congress, his cousin’s iron-fisted rule, and the near black-out of critical news against the Marcos administration.

He also made the headlines for the wrong reasons in the United States when he found himself at the center of a bribery case between Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada and his son over the Okada Casino Resort Manila ownership.

Romualdez does not have the stature and maturity of Mitra, the political savvy of De Venecia, and the economic empire of Villar. What he has is a temporary grip on congressmen who worship the ground he walks on because of the largesse he disposes of left and right and nothing more.

Will he put an end to the so-called Speaker’s jinx? Or will he be the next victim to fall under its spell? These are hard questions for all those who have cast their lot on Romualdez in the vicious street brawl with the Dutertes and anti-Marcos forces.

The next presidential election is still more than three years away. Unless something short of a miracle happens (like his cousin declaring Martial Law) and considering the negative publicity and perception hounding him, and at the rate the Marcos administration is sinking, the possibility of Romualdez becoming the fourth victim of the jinx is more likely than not.