UST ALUMNUS Lord Allan Velasco was installed House speaker after 186 lawmakers declared the position vacant and ousted Taguig-Pateros Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano.
The Marinduque representative was elected on Monday during a session at the Celebrity Sports Plaza in Quezon City, as lawmakers were barred from entering the Batasang Pambansa were Cayetano held a news conference.
Velasco earned his law degree from the University and was admitted to the Philippine Bar in 2005.
The Thomasian lawyer worked at the Supreme Court, first as court attorney and then as judicial staff head.
Velasco also served as the provincial administrator of Marinduque as well as the chairman of the Marinduque chapter of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.
Velasco was one of the recipients of the Gawad Thomasian Alumni In Government Service Award in 2018.
In 2019, President Rodrigo Duterte brokered a term-sharing deal between Velasco and Cayetano.
Cayetano was supposed to serve as Speaker for 15 months, and Velasco for 21 months after that. Cayetano however turned his back on the deal and suspended House sessions last week to prevent Velasco from taking over.
Lawmakers however defied Cayetano and installed Velasco in a “remote session,” which Cayetano said was illegal.
