Angara’s Senate seat to remain vacant unless special polls called  – Comelec

ANGARA DEFENDS NEW GOV’T PROCUREMENT ACT: Sen. Sonny Angara answers questions from his colleagues as he defends Senate Bill No. (SBN) 2539 or the proposed New Government Procurement Act. SBN 2593 seeks to unify and institutionalize the fragmented policies, rules and regulations pertaining to government procurement. During Monday’s plenary session March 18, 2024, Angara walked the senators through the current procurement processes, pointing out that government agencies had different processes. “The intent of the measure is to pursue further the standardization for greater efficiency. There are actually agencies that are having difficult time in the bidding process,” Angara, sponsor of the bill, said. (Joseph B. Vidal / Senate Social Media Unit)

MANILA, Philippines — Incoming Education Secretary Sonny Angara’s seat in the Senate will remain vacant until it is filled in the 2025 elections unless the chamber calls for special polls, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Tuesday.

“Unless there is a call from the Senate to call for a special election, the Senate seat will remain vacant,” Comelec Chair George Garcia told reporters through Viber.

“Because it is already the last term of Sen. Sonny, we will still only elect 12 senators),” he added, referring to the elections in 2025.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. earlier announced that he would appoint Angara as the new secretary of the Department of Education (DepEd).

READ: Angara named as new DepEd chief

His appointment came after Vice President Sara Duterte resigned as DepEd chief on June 19, effective on July 19.