MANILA, Philippines – The House of Representatives designated Quezon 1st District Representative Wilfrido Mark Enverga as the legislative caretaker of Valenzuela’s 1st District, after the legislative post was vacated by newly appointed Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian.

The House made the move during a plenary session on Monday, February 6.

Enverga is a congressional veteran who was first elected to the House in 2007. After maxing his three terms in 2016, he took a break then returned to the chamber in 2019.

Since his return, he has held the chairmanship of the House agriculture committee.

Enverga is from the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), the political party of which Gatchalian is a member.

House Speaker Martin Romualdez previously said the choice of caretaker for the Valenzuela legislative post would be made upon consultation with Gatchalian and the NPC.

Romualdez has also noted that the House would “eventually…call for special elections to allow the city’s voters to choose their new representative to the chamber.”

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointed Gatchalian to the DSWD on Tuesday, January 31, a month after the resignation of broadcaster Erwin Tulfo, who was bypassed by the Commission on Appointments.

Gatchalian was active in the 2022 campaigns of Marcos and his running mate, now Vice President Sara Duterte. He helped organize rallies for Duterte in Metro Manila, which eventually helped the tandem clinch a landslide victory.

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– Rappler.com