House Secretary General Reginald Velasco on Thursday said they are awaiting the leadership's decision on who will be assigned as caretaker of Negros Oriental Third District.
This comes after Arnolfo 'Arnie' Teves Jr. was expelled as the district's representative.
"We are still awaiting the House leadership decision on who will be the caretaker for the district of Mr. Arnolfo Teves," Velasco told the media in an interview.
He also mentioned that they have informed the Commission on Elections (Comelec) of Teves' expulsion, and they are just waiting for its confirmation on the conduct of the special election.
But Velasco said a special election is unlikely to happen as Comelec has many plates at its hand.
"As you know, the Comelec is busy preparing for the Barangay and SK Elections next October," he said.
"Tapos after the BSKE, they have to prepare for the 2025 elections. The whole year of 2024, busy ang Comelec doon sa 2025 National and local elections. Wala nang time and resources yung election para sa special election," the House Sec-Gen added.
Velasco noted that they do not want to "pre-empt" the poll body and so, they are patiently waiting for its next action.
Meanwhile, the House Sec-Gen confirmed that they have already forwarded the notice of expulsion to the office of Teves.
"This was already received by his Office, and so ayun ang implementation ng decision ng plenary," he said.
Velasco also mentioned taht the former Congressman's staff will need to leave the office as part of the House policy.
"The policy dictates that all of a congressman's staff are coterminous. This means that at the end of the congressman's term, they will need to vacate the room or depart from the office,” he noted.
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives expelled Teves due to his disorderly behavior and violation of the lower chamber's Code of Conduct.
