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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider House members shoo away Kiko Barzaga for another 60 days

House members shoo away Kiko Barzaga for another 60 days

Published Feb 4, 2026 06:43 pm

At A Glance

  • Hardly able to warm his seat in plenary, "congressmeow" Cavite 4th district Rep. Francisco "Kiko" Barzaga was handed on late Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 4. another 60-day suspension without pay by his House colleagues.
Cavite 4th district Rep. Francisco "Kiko" Barzaga (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)
Cavite 4th district Rep. Francisco "Kiko" Barzaga (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)


Hardly able to warm his seat in plenary, "congressmeow" Cavite 4th district Rep. Francisco "Kiko" Barzaga was handed on late Wednesday afternoon, Feb. 4. another 60-day suspension without pay by his House colleagues.
A total of 238 congressmen voted to adopt the new penalty against the eccentric Barzaga, as per the recommendation of the House Committee on Rules under its Committee Report No.102.
Ten solons--including Barzaga himself who was present in plenary at that time--voted against the recommendation. Nine other House members abstained.
The presiding officer, Deputy Speaker Ilocos Sur 2nd district Rep. Kristine Singson-Meehan, announced that the second suspension would be enforced "immediately".
Barzaga--who had rubbed his colleagues the wrong way because of continued inflammatory and lewd posts on social media--had just finished serving a two-month suspension from Dec. 1, 2025 to Jan. 30, 2026 for "disorderly behavior".
4Ps Party-list Rep. JC Abalos, chairman of the ethics committee, explained the rationale for his panel's recommendation.
"After a thorough deliberation on the case, the committee finds that respondent Barzaga of the fourth district of Cavite committed repeated, escalating misconduct during the period of his suspension from office during Dec. 1, 2025 to Jan. 30, 2026 which reflected negatively upon the dignity, integrity, and reputation of the House of Representatives as an institution and of the members of the House," he said.
With this, Abalos said that the panel recommended the imposition of another suspension from office for 60 days without the benefit of salaries and allowances.
"The imposition of the penalty carries with it a stern warning that a repetition of another misconduct would warrant a more severe disciplinary action including expulsion from office," he warned.
Historically, a House member gets expelled from the chamber if he or she is recidivist after multiple suspensions. This happened in the case of former Negros Oriental 3rd district Rep. Arnolfo “Arnie” Teves Jr. in 2023.
TGP Party-list Rep. Jose "Bong" Teves Jr. was the one who made the motion to adopt the recommendation for the new penalty. This led to the nominal voting result of 238-10-9 (yes-no-abstain).
On Tuesday, the ethics committee deliberated on four complaints-slash-referrals against Barzaga in a closed-door hearing.
These came from Deputy Speaker Iloilo Iloilo 1st district Rep. Janette Garin (two complaints), a joint complaint from 29 National Unity Party (NUP) members in the House, and Manila 2nd district Rep. Rolando Valeriano's privilege speech last week wherein he assailed the respondent for his alleged continued disorderly conduct.
Barzaga did not attend the hearing.
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