Three more legislators have been elected as deputy speakers of the House of Representatives.
They were Pampanga Rep. Aurelio Gonzales Jr.; Cebu Rep. Vincent Franco Frasco; and Batangas Rep. Ralph Recto.
The three lawmakers took their oath of office separately before House Speaker Martin G. Romualdez.
Also during the session Wednesday, Las Piñas Rep. Camille Villar and Ilocos Sur Rep. Kristine Singson-Meehan took their oath as deputy speakers.
On Tuesday, Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, Antipolo City Rep. Robbie Puno, and TUCP party-list Rep. Raymund Democrito Mendoza took their oath as deputy speakers.
Of the nine deputy speakers, only Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has yet to take her oath. She is elected as senior deputy speaker and is currently on medical and wellness leave.
Albay Rep. Joey Salceda was elected as senior vice chair of the House Committee on Constitutional Amendments.
The committee is mandated to attend to “All matters directly and principally relating to amendments of the Constitution.”
In a statement following his election, Salceda said that his top priority as senior vice chair of the constitutional revisions panel will be “to liberalize the renewable energy sector, consistent with the President’s directive that we achieve energy security.”
“Foreign capital will be essential to expanding our renewable energy portfolio. Our power generation sector is simply too oligopolistic, so there is very little incentive for innovation or expansion other than to pad profits. In many ways, that is the crux of the accusation of regulatory capture in our energy sector agencies. We have very few market players,” Salceda said.
The House of Representatives meanwhile also elected Reginald Sagun Velasco as its new secretary general.
Velasco was one of House officers elected on Monday, including former police Major General Napoleon Taas, the chamber’s new sergeant-at-arms.
Velasco and Taas took their oath of office before Speaker Martin G. Romualdez on Tuesday in the House plenary hall in the presence of lawmakers.
The new House secretary general finished his secondary education at Torres High School in Tondo, Manila, graduating with honors in 1968.
He took doctoral studies at the same state university and was a candidate for Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science in 1981. He finished an investments negotiations course at Georgetown University in Washington DC, USA.