Comelec: Angara’s seat vacant unless Senate seeks special polls

Incoming Department of Education Secretary Juan Edgardo Angara (File Photo: Voltaire F. Domingo/Senate PRIB via Senate of the Philippines/Facebook)

MANILA – The Senate has to call for a special election if it wants to fill up the vacancy left by incoming Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Juan Edgardo Angara, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Tuesday.

“Filling up a position is dependent on the Senate leadership if it will call for a special election or just leave it vacant until the term expires,” Comelec chief George Erwin Garcia said in an interview.

He said the upper chamber has to come up with a resolution for the purpose.

Meanwhile, he said the seat would remain vacant until the next elections in 2025.

“Because of the very short period left, less than a year left in the term of the 12 incumbent senators, it is my personal belief that the Senate will no longer call for a special election. I think they will just wait for the 2025 elections,” Garcia said.

Angara is in his last term as senator and cannot seek reelection next year.

Angara was elected to the Senate in 2013 and was reelected in 2019. His second term would end in 2025, as the law states that no senator would be allowed to serve more than two consecutive terms.

Garcia said holding such polls will require a huge amount.

“It is like holding a barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections, around PHP13 billion will be needed since it will be a nationwide election as well as overseas voting since it involves a national position,” he said.

On Tuesday, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. appointed Angara as the new DepEd chief, replacing Vice President Sara Duterte who resigned from the post last month.

Angara will assume the post of DepEd Secretary on July 19.