House drops An Waray representative after party-list's registration is canceled

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 27) -- The House of Representatives on Wednesday moved to drop the lawmaker behind the An Waray Party-list after the Commission on Elections en banc issued a judgment canceling its registration.

“I move that the secretary general be directed to execute and implement the resolution and accordingly, drop the An Waray Party-List Representative from the roll of members of the 19th Congress,” said Deputy Majority Leader Janette Garin.

An Waray is represented by Florencio Gabriel "Bem" Noel.

Garin said official communication from Comelec noted the final judgment on the cancellation of the registration of the party-list.

There were no objections to Garin's motion.

In August, the Comelec en banc denied the motion for reconsideration to reverse the cancellation of An Waray's registration for utter lack of merit.

An Waray Party-list and former representative Victoria Isabel Noel filed a motion for reconsideration on June 6, arguing that there was no sufficient evidence to justify the decision of the Comelec Second Division.

The division had ruled to cancel An Waray's registration when it allowed its second nominee, Victoria Isabel Noel, to sit as one of its representatives in the lower chamber during the 16th Congress (2013-2016), knowing "fully well" that the poll body had not issued a Certificate of Proclamation entitling her to do so.

As of publication, the party-list or its representative has not issued a statement on the matter.