MANILA, Philippines — Cavite 4th District Rep. Kiko Barzaga was not the only member of the House of Representatives who had been expelled. He was in fact, the third.
Barzaga was booted out of the House on Tuesday over his social media posts and for conduct "unbecoming" of a lawmaker with 265 voting in the affirmative; 14, negative and eight abstentions.
Then Philippine Assembly member Dominador Gomez, while serving under Manila’s first district, was the first to be expelled from the chamber, with a vote of 40-38, because of “legal controversies” on June 18, 1908, according to Supreme Court records.
In 1902, Gomez founded the Democratic Labor Union of the Philippines, which was described by the High Court as an illicit organization.
Negros Oriental 3rd District Rep. Arnolfo Teves, because of his role in the murder of then provincial governor Roel Degamo, as well as abandoning his role as a lawmaker was unseated on Aug. 16, 2023.
Teves was the first member of the current Philippine House of Representatives to be expelled from the chamber, with lawmakers voting 265-0-3 to remove him.
