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Home | Political post | Speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives
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The Speaker is the third and last in line in succession for the presidency, after the President of the Senate of the Philippines, and Vice President of the Philippines. When the office of the Speaker is vacant (usually at the beginning of a new Congress), the Secretary-General of the House sits as the Speaker until a person is elected. A speaker is usually elected via majority vote via roll call of the representatives, after nomination at the start of each new Congress. Usually, despite the current multi-party system used, only two representatives are nominated, with nominations being agreed upon before each Congress during caucuses between the administration and opposition coalitions. The two competing candidates by tradition vote for each other; those who voted for the speaker-elect assigned as the "majority" coalition while those who didn't are the minority coalition, with the losing candidate usually being named as Minority Leader. A speaker may be removed from office by death or resignation. In some cases a Speaker may be compelled to resign at the middle of a Congress' session after he has lost support of the majority of congressmen; in that case, an election for a new speaker is held. Despite being a partisan official, the speaker (or whoever is presiding) doesn't vote unless in breaking ties. |