TWO days since the resignation of Representative Nathaniel Oducado, the House of Representatives has yet to officially declare a vacancy for 1Tahanan party-list before the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
In a media forum, Comelec Chairman George Garcia said they have yet to act on the case of the 1Tahanan party-list.
"As of yesterday, we have not yet receive any official communication from the House of Representatives," said Garcia.
"This is regarding the declaration of vacancy and the request that we provide a new certificate of proclamation," he added.
In contrast, the commission, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC), proclaimed on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, the new representative of the Pinoy Workers party-list in House of Representatives just two days after the resignation of Representative Franz Vincent Legazpi.
In a simple ceremony at the Comelec Session Hall, the NBOC proclaimed Karl Josef Legazpi as the new Pinoy Workers party-list representative.
"We, the chairman and Commissioners of the Commission on Elections, sitting en banc as the National Board of Canvassers for the Party-List System in the Automated National and Local Elections of May 12, 2025, do hereby proclaim Pinoy Workers Party-list as having obtained the required percentage of votes under the party-list system of representation to entitle its qualified nomine, namely: Karl Josef Legazpi, to sit as representative to the House of Representatives of the Congress of the Philippines, and to serve for a term of three years, ending on June 30, 2028," said the NBOC.
Karl Legazpi was proclaimed despite not being in the original list of nominees submitted by the Pinoy Workers party-list to the commission prior to the May 2025 polls.
In a phone interview, Garcia said there are no more available nominees from the original list submitted by the party-list (PL).
"They expelled the original nominees because they formed a new PL and became officers of that new PL," said the official.
Garcia issued the statement after the resignation of Oducado and Legazpi was announced last Monday at the Lower House.
Back in the May 2025 polls, Pinoy Workers party-list got a total of 475,985 votes while 1Tahanan party-list received 309,761 votes. (Anton Banal/SunStar Philippines)
