THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) may hold a special election in the third legislative district of Negros Oriental in December this year in light of the expulsion Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. by Congress.
The call for a special election came after the province’s third legislative district was declared vacant, leaving the constituency “without representation in the House of Representatives of the Congress of the Philippines.”
Teves was delisted and expelled from the chamber for “disorderly behavior and for violation of the Code of Conduct of the House of Representatives, according to a report received by the Comelec.
However, Garcia said the Comelec has yet to receive the resolution from the House regarding its call for special election in the province.
The Comelec chief said the poll body may hold the special after the 2023 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE) slated on
October 30.
“The special election will not make it in time for the barangay and SK elections… It will be difficult for us. It should be after. The earliest we can hold the special election in Negros Oriental is in December this year,” Garcia said in a radio interview.
Congress has invoked Section 9, Article VI of the Constitution, which provides: “In case of vacancy in the Senate or in the House of Representatives, a special election may be called to fill such vacancy in the manner prescribed by law, but the senator or member of the House of Representatives thus elected shall serve only for the unexpired term.”