ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Libanan elected House minority leader in unanimous vote

Libanan elected House minority leader in unanimous vote

Published Jul 28, 2025 05:40 pm

At A Glance

  • 4Ps Party-list Rep. Marcelino "Nonoy" Libanan was elected as minority leader of the House of Representatives in the 20th Congress during a closed-door caucus on Monday afternoon, July 28.
4Ps Party-list Rep. Marcelino “Nonoy” Libanan (Facebook)
4Ps Party-list Rep. Marcelino “Nonoy” Libanan (Facebook)


4Ps Party-list Rep. Marcelino “Nonoy” Libanan was elected as minority leader of the House of Representatives in the 20th Congress during a closed-door caucus on Monday afternoon, July 28.
The meeting was held following the morning plenary session, which incidentally marked marked the beginning of the first regular session of the current Congress.
Libanan received the unanimous support of 29 other solons--now part of the minority bloc-- during the caucus. Along with Libanan, the bloc has 30 members.
The 4Ps Party-list solon's election will be formalized during Tuesday's session once it is read in plenary. He was also the minority chief during the previous 19th Congress.
The House members who voted for Libanan as minority leader are: Edgar Erice (Caloocan, 2nd district), Presley De Jesus (PHILRECA), Sergio Dagooc (APEC), Jonathan Clement Abalos II (4Ps), Stephen James Tan (Samar, 1st district), Leila de Lima (Mamayang Liberal), Percival Cendaña (Akbayan), Antonio Tinio (ACT Teachers), Jesus Suntay (Quezon City, 4th district), Christopher “Sheen” Gonzales (Eastern Samar, lone district), Jose Manuel Diokno (Akbayan), Renee Louise Co (Kabataan), Roberto Gerard Nazal Jr. (Bagong Henerasyon), Jernie Jett Nisay (Pusong Pinoy), Niko Raul Daza (Northern Samar, 1st district), and Allan Ty (LPGMA).
Also voting for Libanan were Cielo Krisel Lagman-Luistro (Albay, 1st district), Terry Ridon (Bicol Saro), Arlene “Kaka” Bag-ao (Dinagat Islands, lone district), Dadah Kiram Ismula (Akbayan), Elijah San Fernando (Kamanggagawa), Jan Rurik Padiernos (Galing sa Puso), Florabel Yatco (Nanay), Arlyn Ayon (Swerte), Nicanor Briones (AGAP), Audrey Zubiri (Bukidnon, 3rd district), Reynolds Michael Tan (Samar, 2nd district), Rachel Marguerite Del Mar (Cebu City, 1st district), and Paolo Henry Marcoleta (SAGIP).
These House members abstained during the Speakership vote in the morning session. Leyte 1st district Rep. Martin Romualdez was elected Speaker for a second straight term after he garnered 269 votes.
During the caucus, the nomination of Libanan was made by De Lima and was seconded by Erice, Tinio, De Jesus, Abalos, and Briones.
A lawyer by profession, Libanan previously served three terms as the representative of Eastern Samar’s lone district. He chaired the House Committee on Justice and was also the majority leader of the bicameral Commission on Appointments (CA).
Libanan also served as commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration (BI) under the administration of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.