Cavite 4th District Rep. Kiko Barzaga took his oath as a member of PDP-Laban on April 29, formalizing a political shift that comes months after his exit from the National Unity Party.
Barzaga enters the Duterte-led party following his resignation from NUP in September 2025 after he was linked to an alleged plot to remove then-House Speaker Martin Romualdez. He rejected the claim at the time, calling it false and denying any effort to gather support to unseat the Speaker.
He said that situation led him to leave both the party and the majority bloc, but he has since become one of the staunchest critics of Romualdez, who has been tagged as a mastermind in widespread corruption.
Barzaga took his oath as a PDP-Laban member after undergoing a basic membership seminar at the PDP-Laban National Headquarters in Sta. Mesa, Manila, led by Executive Director Joy Encabo, where he was introduced to the party’s principles, advocacies and goals.
His move to join the party comes amid strong political noise in the House calling for his expulsion, but PDP-Laban, headed by Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte, places Barzaga in a strong political affiliation.
