Batangas 6th district Rep. Ralph Recto has been elected as the seventh deputy speaker in the House of Representatives this 19th Congress.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez momentarily presided over the session Wednesday afternoon to facilitate Recto's election.
Senior deputy majority leader and Ilocos Norte 1st district Rep. Sandro Marcos nominated Recto as deputy speaker. There were no objections toward his motion.
Recto took his oath before Romualdez shortly after his designation.
The five other lawmakers who were earlier named deputy speakers were Davao City 3rd district Rep. Isidro Ungab; Antipolo 1st district Rep. Roberto Puno; Las Pinas lone district Rep. Camille Villar; Ilocos Sur 2nd district Rep. Kristine Singson-Meehan; and TUCP Party-list Rep. Raymond Mendoza.
Pampanga 2nd district Rep. and former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, on the other hand, was designated as senior deputy speaker.
Singson-Meehan and Villar also took their oath as deputy speaker on Wednesday, while Ungab, Puno, and Mendoza took theirs during Tuesday's session.
Arroyo, who is on medical leave after contracting Covid-19, has yet to take her oath as senior deputy speaker.