At A Glance
- After weeks of speculation, Ilocos Norte 1st district Rep. Sandro Marcos was named Monday, July 28 as House majority leader of the 20th Congress.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez (left), Majority Leader Ilocos Norte 1st district Rep. Sandro Marcos (Facebook)
After weeks of speculation, Ilocos Norte 1st district Rep. Sandro Marcos was named Monday, July 28 as House majority leader of the 20th Congress.
He was nominated during Monday morning's session--the first in the House of Representatives in the current Congress--by acting floor leader Iloilo 3rd district Rep. Lorenz Defensor.
The Ilocano's election was then affirmed in plenary by newly-installed House Speaker, Leyte 1st district Rep. Martin Romualdez, after the solons did not voice any objection.
At only 31 years old, Rep. Marcos is most likely the youngest to ever hold the majority leader's post.
During his first term as a lawmaker in the 19th Congress, Rep. Marcos was the senior deputy majority leader--just one step below the majority leader's post.
The majority leadership is colloquially referred to as the "bastonero", which roughly translates leader, coordinator, and sheperd, among others.
Rep. Marcos, the President's eldest son, will have to be all that, and more, as all eyes will surely be on him.
As majority leader, he automatically becomes the chairman of the powerful Committee on Rules, which determines what takes place in plenary.