Speaker Romualdez named caretaker of Negros Oriental, Palawan districts

Speaker Martin Romualdez will remain as the caretaker of the third districts of Negros Oriental and Palawan until the May 2025 midterm elections, House Secretary General Reginald Velasco said Tuesday.

Velasco was referring to the vacant congressional seats due to the expulsion of former Negros Oriental lawmaker Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves, Jr. and Palawan legislator Edward Hagedorn who passed away last October 3.

“We are in status quo which means the Speaker will act as the caretaker [of Third District of Negros Oriental]. The assessment of Congressman [Manuel] Sagarbarria [of Negros Oriental], parang next elections na lang, in May 2025, [punan ang vacancy].  The same with [Palawan]...[since] we have another vacancy because of the death of Congressman Hagedorn, the caretaker [of Hagedorn’s district] is the Speaker,” Velasco told reporters when asked what he expects to occur after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) heeded the House’s call to cancel the December 9 special polls to fill in the House seat vacated by Teves.

The fine print of House’s call to cancel the December 9 special elections in Negros Oriental is provided under House Resolution 1431 authored by Sagarbarria, whose son, Chaco, is the current governor of Negros Oriental.

“I doubt if there will be special elections because next year is already the political season. The filing of candidacy is in October. The term of whoever is elected in a special election is short, tapos may mga protest pa ‘yan, may magfa-file ng disqualification, and so on and so forth. That will drag on,” Velasco added.

In addition, Velasco said Sagarbarria should know best the situation in his home province.

”(The Sagarbarrias) have the knowledge of the situation in Negros Oriental, that is why he filed this important Resolution, because of the current situation there,” Velasco pointed out.

“[There are] peace and order [concerns], the very hot political climate there. To avoid all these problems, he said the proposed special elections should not be held at this time,” Velasco stressed.

Furthermore, Velasco believes there is not enough time for the Comelec to ensure the safe and peaceful conduct of polls in Negros Oriental, especially with the previously scheduled special elections just less than a month away.

“It appears that the Comelec does not have enough time to have a real peaceful and honest election [in the province],” Velasco said.—RF, GMA Integrated News