House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. on Monday administered the oath of office on Lord Allan Velasco as Marinduque’s representative, unseating Regina Ongsiako-Reyes after a protracted legal battle that had reached the Supreme Court.
Velasco, a stalwart of the National Unity Party, replaces Ongsiako-Reyes, a member of the ruling Liberal Party, as the real winner in the province’s lone congressional district during the 2013 polls.
House Majority Leader and Mandaluyong Rep. Neptali Gonzales II, in plenary session, announced that the House effectively deleted Ongsiako-Reyes’ name in the roster in compliance of Supreme Court order recognizing Velasco as the legitimate representative of Marinduque.
The SC’s order stemmed from Velasco’s petition for mandamus which sought to compel the Lower House to comply with the high court’s final ruling upholding the disqualification of Reyes on grounds that Reyes is an American citizen.
Reyes then brought the case before the High Court after the Commission on Elections nullified her win and proclamation.
Velasco, son of SC Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr. was eventually proclaimed by the Comelec. But the House then refused to honor Velasco’s proclamation until the SC order.