Speaker Martin Romualdez (leftmost) administers the oath of office to Akbayan Party-list Rep. Percival Cendaña (Screenshot from Facebook live) 

Former commissioner of the National Youth Commission (NYC) Percival Cendaña, the first nominee of Akbayan Party-list, took his oath as a member of the House of Representatives in the current 19th Congress on Wednesday night, Sept. 25.

Cendaña took oath before Speaker Martin Romualdez during the House’s plenary session.

Cendaña was accompanied by family and former colleagues, including former Rep. Loreta “Etta” Rosales, the former chairperson of Akbayan and of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR). 

Earlier Wednesday, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) proclaimed Akabayan as one of the winning party-lists in the 2022 national elections. 

This was after the Supreme Court (SC), voting 14 to 1, upheld the Comelec’s decision to cancel the registration of An Waray Party-list, which left one seat vacant.

Under Section 7, Article 6 of the Constitution, Cendaña will serve in the House of Representatives until June 30, 2025.

The 19th Congress began on June 30, 2022.

Aside from serving as youth commissioner from 2011 to 2016, Cendaña also served as the Student Council Chairperson at UP Diliman in 1997 and as chief of staff for former Akbayan Rep. Arlene “Kaka” Bag-ao.

By rejoining Congress, Akabayan ended its more than five years of absence in the lower chamber. The party-list consistently held seats in the House until losing in the 2019 elections.

Congress began a six-week long recess after Wednesday's session.