[] Congresswomen from Cebu outnumber the Cebuano legislators.
[] Mendoza’s case has not been litigated. As far as what’s known by publication, no complaint to disqualify him has been filed.
THERE will be four party-list members from Cebu in the incoming House of Representatives, that is if Representative Raymond Democrito Mendoza of Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) and currently one of the House deputy speakers will still sit as its nominee.
There will be only three Cebuano party-listers, if Mendoza will be barred because of term limit. The closing Congress is his sixth consecutive term; a fresh term from 2025-2028 will be his seventh, straight.
Two are newcomers, both women:
-- Girlie Enriquez Veloso of Carcar City for Malasakit@Bayanihan, and;
-- Marie Josephine Diana Calatrava of Mandaue City for Tingog.
Rep. Sonny Lagon of Ako Bisaya of Consolacion, Cebu -- husband of sixth district congresswoman, Daphne Lagon -- is an incumbent, just as TUCP’s Mendoza is. Their major difference: the term opening on June 30 will be Lagon’s second but Mendoza’s seventh.
MENDOZA’S NOMINATION. In the certificate of nomination filed with Comelec by TUCP Party on October 8, 2024, Raymond Democrito Mendoza is No. 1 of 20 nominees.
If he’s ever disqualified because of term limit, the No. 2 and No. 3 nominees, both surnamed Mendoza, don’t bear a Cebu address. Raymond himself is listed with a Barangay Poblacion, North Cotabato address. None of the seven other TUCP nominees carries a Cebu address, not even Cecilio Seno III (No. 6) who has Cebu roots; Seno has given Diliman, Quezon City as his address.
TUCP Party uses a Quezon City address, prompting some people to wonder that perhaps Cebu may no longer consider Mendoza a Cebu congressman. Cebu, though, has long been the home of the TUCP Mendozas, with Cebu City published as Cong. Raymond’s birthplace.
RECORD BEATER ON TERM LIMIT. Mendoza has so far served six terms, starting in 2007 and ending June 30, 2025, covering the 14th up to the 19th Congress, or a total of 18 years.
What the Constitution limits is not so much the total length of service as the non-interruption of a consecutive three-term stretch. The ban is on a fourth after three straight terms.
Raymond, it is said, should’ve rested in 2016 and resumed in 2019.
The reason for the non-stop stint, according to his camp, was he didn’t start his first term right when the 14th Congress opened. And in the second and third terms (2010 and 2013), proclamation was allegedly delayed by months because of the dispute on the nominees from TUCP. In the first three Congresses, Mendoza didn’t serve complete terms. He served only two complete terms, or so the explanation at the time ran.
But then if one counts out the first three terms, how about the succeeding three straight terms (2016, 2019, and 2022)? He would’ve been term-limited already after his 2022 term, thus cancelling him from the 2025 term.
NO ONE COMPLAINS, must be why Mendoza has gone on a term spree, non-stop and unobstructed. Unlike in cases of then councilor-elect Arvin Arcilla and Sisenio Andales in 2019, and this year (2025), in the case of councilor-elect Joel Garganera, there has been no known complaint filed against Mendoza.
8 WOMEN IN THE HOUSE. Girlie Veloso of Barangay Perrelos in Carcar City has had a broad experience, more recently as Malasakit Program head; director 4 of Department of Health; assistant secretary of the Office of the President; and executive assistant of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas.
Veloso had also worked with SunStar Cebu as branch head, corporate sales head, business development supervisor, and executive secretary to the president. She has done volunteer work with the Philippine Red Cross Cebu chapter, advisory council of Regional Mobile Force Batallion 7, and the Cebeco 1 Multi-sector Advisory Council. She was No. 1 councilor of Barangay Perrelos from 2013 to 2018.
Marie Josephine Calatrava is listed as a director of the Philippine Veterans Bank.
Add Veloso and Calatrava to the other newly elected House members from Cebu and there’s a total of eight. The district congresswomen are Rhea Gullas, first district; Karen Flores-Garcia, third district; Daphne Lagon, sixth district; Patricia Calderon, seventh district; Lolypop Ouano-Dizon, Mandaue City; and Cutie del Mar, Cebu City north district. Three of them ran unopposed: Rhea Gullas, Karen Garcia, and Daphne Lagon.
The women outnumbered the men, eight to six or seven. The Cebuanos in the House: Junard Chan, Lapu-Lapu City; Edsel Galeos, second district; Sun Shimura, fourth district; Duke Frasco, fifth district; and Edu Rama, Cebu City south; Party-lister Sonny Lagon and party-lister Raymond Mendoza -- that is, if there will be no legal hitch to Mendoza’s term and he’s still counted as a congressman from Cebu.