The camp of Rep. Pablo Garcia Sr. deliberately defaulted in nominating Representative Garcia after they realized the inevitable defeat of their candidate for Speaker.

This was the assessment of Rep. Edcel C. Lagman of Albay who said that the allies of Rep. Garcia “saw the writing on the wall after the counting by tellers resulted in the defeat of the motion questioning the authority of Secretary General Roberto P. Nazareno as acting Presiding Officer by 160 over 46 votes.”

The supporters of Rep. Garcia were given ample opportunity to nominate their candidate against Speaker Jose C. De Venecia, Jr. but they did not submit their nomination.

“It is well settled that after the electorate has cast its vote and the winner is declared, ‘question of technicality’ must bow to the popular mandate,” Lagman said.