The House of Representatives needs to inform the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on the seat vacancy of Zaldy Co following his resignation as a representative of Ako Bicol Party-list, according to Comelec Chairperson George Garcia on Tuesday.
Garcia said that while the poll body is aware that the office of House Speaker Faustino Dy III received the resignation on Monday, the lower chamber still needs to officially inform the Comelec of Co’s resignation.
Garcia noted the process is similar to when a member of a House of Representatives dies and there needs to be a declaration of seat vacancy.
‘If a member resigns, there needs to be a declaration to trigger vacancy from the member of the House of Representatives,’ Garcia, speaking in Filipino, told reporters during an online interview.
Co has resigned from his post as the representative of Ako Bicol Party-list amid allegations of his involvement in the anomalous flood control projects. In his letter to Dy, Co cited ‘the real, direct, grave and imminent threat’ to him and to ‘the lives of my family members.’
With this, Garcia said that the poll body is yet to receive the letter from the lower chamber. He added that it is usually the secretary general informing the poll body of the acceptance of the resignation.
Garcia also said that it is also the secretary general who asks who would replace the seat vacated.
‘Comelec can’t just issue a certificate of proclamation or acknowledgment of the resignation of the member of House of Representatives without the lower chamber’s acknowledgement,’ Garcia stressed in Filipino.
‘It should also be noted that the issue of membership is purely a matter under the discretion of the House of Representatives and cannot be interfered with by the Comelec,’ Garcia added in Filipino.
Garcia noted that as Co resigned, the second nominee will automatically assume the party-list’s first seat while the third nominee will get the second seat.
He explained that this is because the Ako Bicol Party-list secured two seats in the May 2025 midterm elections, garnering a total of 1,072,171 votes. The certificates of nomination of the party-list showed that aside from Co being the first nominee, Alfred Garbin and Jan Franz Chan were named the second and third nominees, respectively.