At A Glance
- In what could be viewed as part of the continued restructuring of power under Speaker Faustino "Bojie" Dy, the House of Representatives "promoted" on Wednesday, Nov. 19 South Cotabato 2nd district Rep. Ferdinand Hernandez to the position of senior deputy speaker.
South Cotabato 2nd district Rep. Ferdinand Hernandez (left), Quezon 2nd district Rep. David "Jay-Jay" Suarez (PPAB)
In what could be viewed as part of the continued restructuring of power under Speaker Faustino "Bojie" Dy, the House of Representatives promoted on Wednesday, Nov. 19 South Cotabato 2nd district Rep. Ferdinand Hernandez to the position of senior deputy speaker.
Hernandez’s election as senior deputy speaker was swiftly approved during plenary upon the motion of Deputy Majority Leader and Sorsogon 2nd Rep. Wowo Fortes.
Before this, Hernandez was one of the 11 deputy speakers in the 20th Congress. He was the first deputy speaker to be elected under Dy's speakership, which began only last Sept. 17.
The Mindanao lawmaker replaced Quezon 2nd district Rep. David "Jay-Jay" Suarez, who served as senior deputy speaker under Dy's predecessor, Leyte 1st district Rep. Martin Romualdez.
With this, Suarez, a member of the "Young Guns" bloc, slid to the position of a "regular" deputy speaker.
Suarez was a deputy speaker during the previous 19th Congress, when Romualdez also held the top post in the 300-plus strong chamber.
Hernandez sits as vice chairman of the Committees on Appropriation, on Higher and Technical Education, on Transportation, and on Ways and Means.
He is also a member of the Committees on Accounts, on Banks and Financial Intermediaries, on Energy, on Games and Amusements, on Good Government and Public Accountability, on National Defense and Security, and on Overseas Workers Affairs.
Dy, who represents the 6th district of Isabela, has yet to name other deputy speakers.