Bicol Saro Party-list first nominee Brian Raymund Yamsuan (Photo courtesy of Office of Comelec chairperson George Garcia)
MANILA – The Bicol Saro Party list has a new representative in the House of Representatives.
This, after the Commission on Elections (Comelec), issued a certificate of proclamation to the party’s new first nominee Brian Raymund Yamsuan.
The party-list's first nominee seat has been vacant after then representative Nicolas Enciso VIII has been expelled by the group.
"The applicable ground, in this case, provides that a formal communication be received by Comelec from the Speaker of the House of Representatives, himself acknowledging and declaring, that indeed a vacancy exists in the seat of the party list; and requesting for a certification as to the nominee next-in-line as approved by Comelec," the poll body said a statement on Wednesday.
Yamsuan, a former assistant secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, is the first nominee of the party-list in the latest set of nominees submitted by the party-list to the Comelec.
The other nominees include Lara Maria R. Villafuerte, Jocelyn Faustino Fortuno, Arron James G. Pagaduan, and Mac Arthur Cuison Samson, Jr.
On the other hand, the Commission said it has already granted the withdrawal of the nomination of the original set of nominees of the group.
The original set was composed of Gavino Lim Barlin, Delia Castro Simbulan, Leo Amel Manrique Caayao, and Lydia Borral Abarrientos.
The party-list group received a total of 323,965 votes, in the May 2022 polls and was allocated one seat in the lower chamber.
Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez administered the oath of office to Yamsuan at the House plenary hall.
Yamsuan previously served as deputy secretary general of the House under then Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano in the 18th Congress.
He is also the secretary general of the National Unity Party (NUP), one of the country’s major political organizations.
Meanwhile, the House accepted the resignation of ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Jeffrey Soriano.
His resignation as a member of the House was contained in a letter sent to Romualdez dated Feb. 6. No reason has been provided on why he resigned.
Following the acceptance of his resignation, House Secretary-General Reginald S. Velasco was instructed to drop Soriano from the roll of members effective immediately.
Meanwhile, Negros Occidental 6th District Rep. Mercedes K. Alvarez was elected as the new chairperson of the House Committee on Local Government.
Alvarez replaced former Valenzuela 1st District Rep. Rex Gatchalian, who was appointed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. as the new secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development on Jan. 31. (with Jose Cielito Reganit/PNA)
