MAJORITY Floor leader Rudy Farinas announced on Monday, August 15, the five lawmakers who were elected as Deputy Speakers in the 17th Congress.
The lawmakers are Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Taguig Representative and former senator Pia Cayetano, Cebu Representative Gwendolyn Garcia, Davao Representative Mylene Garcia-Albano, and Aambis Owa Representative Sharon Garin.
Garcia, who was recently re-elected Representative in the May 2016 elections, posted on Facebook of her taking oath as Deputy Speaker.
Earlier, former president and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was nominated by the congressmen of the Central Luzon bloc led by Bulacan Fourth District Representative Linabelle Villarica.
The former president said that her nomination as deputy speaker for Central Luzon is part of the plan to divide the Congress into 12 federal states in preparation for a federal form of government.
Under House rules, a deputy speaker is an ex-officio member of all House committees. The deputy speaker gets to preside plenary sessions in the absence of the Speaker.
(Sunnex)