Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 14) – The number of deputy speakers in the House of Representatives has increased to 30, just two months after Speaker Lord Allan Jay Velasco assumed the House leadership.
The chamber on Monday elected Cavite Rep. Strike Revilla as deputy speaker during the plenary session.
The deputy speakership is one of the top posts in the chamber. A deputy speaker has a voice and a vote in all committees.
Last week, nine lawmakers allied with Velasco were elected as deputy speakers.
Since Velasco took over last October, some allies of then Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano have been booted out of their posts as deputy speakers.
With Revilla taking a new post, Negros Occidental Rep. Francisco Benitez was named new chairperson of the Committee on Housing and Urban Development.
COOP-NATCCO Party-list Rep. Sabiniano Canama was also named new Special Committee on East ASEAN Growth Area chairperson, while PHILRECA Party-list Rep. Presley De Jesus is now the new Committee on Cooperatives Development Chairperson.
CNN Philippines correspondent Xianne Arcangel and Multi-Platform News Writer Vince Ferreras contributed to this report
