RAYMOND MENDOZA’S RECORD. Trade Union Congress of the Philippines' (TUCP) winning of a party-list seat in the House of Representatives means Representative Raymond Democrito C. Mendoza of Cebu’s labor organization Associated Labor Unions (ALU)-TUCP will have the chance of completing the record of serving six consecutive terms in six Congresses, despite the specific prohibition on three successive terms by any legislator.
If not in the entire country, he is the only congressman who will have accomplished the feat: serving as a member of the House in the 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th Congresses and, starting June 20, the 19th Congress. That would be a total of 18 uninterrupted years, from 2007 to 2025. All that despite the much-vaunted term limit for all House members.
How he beat the ban is a story by itself. (See July 5, 2021 Explainer: Cebu’s Rep. Raymond Mendoza of TUCP party list is fifth consecutive term, may start his sixth in 2022.) Another question that some people already ask: What has he done for his sector and the rest of the nation in all those years?
55 GROUPS, 62 SEATS. Thursday, May 26, Comelec, sitting as National Board of Canvassers, proclaimed 55 party-list groups – including TUCP, Marino and Ako Bisaya – that obtained a combined 62 seats, in a ceremony in Pasay City.
There are 63 seats allocated for the party-list legislators but Comelec withheld the proclamation of United Senior Citizens whose accreditation was denied.
LAGONS, ALEGADOS. Daphne Lagon, wife of Ako Bisaya Party-list Representative Sonny Lagon, was elected congresswoman of Cebu’s Sixth District, beating Martin Addy Sitoy by more than 61,000 votes, a battle in only two towns of Consolacion and Cordova, the district being severely emaciated by the loss of Lapu-Lapu City and Mandaue City.
The Lagons of Ako Bisaya apparently made a deal with the Alegados of Consolacion and both families could be sharing control of the Sixth District starting June 30.
Representative Sonny Lagon will get the first seat of Ako Bisaya while Mayor Joannes “Joyjoy” Alegado, as the party-list’s second nominee, might become a congressman. In exchange for that, the Alegados supported Daphne Lagon’s bid. In Consolacion, Daphne beat Martin Addy Sitoy by more than 50,000 votes and Ako Bisaya polled more than 30,000.
So the Lagons, husband and wife, will be in Congress. And the Alegados will keep control of Consolacion’s municipal hall with the mother as mayor, with some influence in Congress, having their ally, the Lagons, and his son Joyjoy there, that is if Ako Bisaya gets two seats.
Teresa Alegado held the post of mayor for three consecutive terms, from 2010 to 2019. Instead of resting in 2019, she ran for and won as VM and her son Joyjoy as mayor. In last May’s election, she won back the mayorship and her son Joyjoy has the chance of becoming party-list congressman.
TOP VOTE-GETTERS. In the Commission on Elections (Comelec) list, only one six party-list group is assured of three seats: ACT-CIS, and only five will get two seats each: 1-Rider, Tingog, 4 Ps, Ako Bikol and Sagip. Forty nine others – including Ako Bisaya, Marino and TUCP – will have one seat each.
The special interest in party-list Marino and TUCP – aside from Ako Bisaya in which the Lagons and the Alegados are involved – is that (a) Mayor Mike Rama’s Barug openly partnered with Marino in the last election and (b) TUCP is represented by Cebu’s Representative Raymond Democrito Mendoza and his whiz of a six-successive-term fame.
Part of the deal for Barug’s support for Marino must be the nomination of Colin Rosell as the party-list’s choice for the second seat. Atty. Rosell has been helping Mayor Mike draft those executive orders during the pandemic and the typhoons.
‘BASIN PA.’ Under the law, a party-list must get at least two percent of the votes cast to be entitled to one seat. Whatever the result of the polling, however, 63 seats are reserved for party-lists in the House. Thus, the initial allocation of one seat could increase to two seats. Marino and Ako Bisaya are 10th and 11th in the Comelec list for one seat each.
Thursday, May 26, Art Barrit of ALU-TUCP told Bzzzzz TUCP would only have one seat and “it would be the last term of Raymond Democrito Mendoza.” Atty. Rossel texted, “One seat pa klaro, basin mapun-an pa, he he!).”
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