Roberto Uy Jr. takes oath as new Zamboanga del Norte congressman

Roberto “Pinpin” Uy, Jr. took his oath as Representative of the First District of Zamboanga del Norte during Monday’s plenary session in the House of Representatives.

Accompanied by his family, Uy was sworn in by House Speaker and Leyte lawmaker Martin Romualdez.

“We will address the challenges our community faces and work towards a brighter future for all,” Uy said in a statement after his oath taking in Batasan.

Uy is a member of the Lakas-CMD party, of which Romualdez is president.

Last week, the Commission on Elections proclaimed Uy the winner of the 2022 race for the position, two months after the Supreme Court decision on the matter.

Uy’s proclamation was initially suspended by the Provincial Board of Canvassers (PBOC) on May 12, 2022, even though he got the most number of votes with 69,591 based on the complete transmission of election results.

Romeo Jalosjos Jr., was then proclaimed by the Comelec as the winning congressional candidate on June 23, 2022, since he originally placed second behind Uy with 69,109 votes and the poll body decided to “legally pass” 5,424 votes obtained by Frederico Jalosjos (F. Jalosjos), who was earlier declared a nuisance candidate, to Romeo.

This Comelec ruling allowed Romeo to get a total of 74,533 votes, winning over Uy by 4,942 votes.

However, the SC ruled in August that candidates receiving the highest votes should be proclaimed without unnecessary delay. — BM, GMA Integrated News