Secretary General of the House of Representatives of the Philippines

Secretary General of the House of Representatives of the Philippines
Incumbent Reginald S. Velasco since July 25, 2022
House of Representatives of the Philippines
Style	The Honorable
Seat	Batasang Pambansa Complex, Batasan Hills, Quezon City
Appointer	Elected by the House of Representatives
Formation	October 16, 1907
First holder	Julian Gerona
Deputy	Deputy Secretaries General of the House of Representatives of the Philippines
Salary	₱3,341,000 per year (2023)[2]

The secretary general of the House of Representatives of the Philippines is an officer of the House of Representatives of the Philippines. The secretary general—elected by a majority vote of all the Members at the commencement of each Congress—implements and enforces the orders and decisions of the House, maintains the Journal of each session and records all questions of order along with the corresponding rulings, oversees the printing and distribution of the House Records and submits all contracts and agreements for the Speaker’s approval. They serve as the custodian of all property, records, and government assets located within the premises of the House.

Under the House Speaker's supervision, the Secretary General acts as head of the House personnel and is responsible for ensuring the faithful and proper performance of their official duties.

The incumbent secretary general is Reginald Velasco, replacing Mark Llandro Mendoza, following his election at the start of the 19th Congress.

Powers and duties

According to Rule VI, Section 18 of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the duties and powers of the Secretary General are:

• To call the session to order, to call the roll of Members by provinces, cities and municipalities comprising districts and by party-lists in alphabetical order, to designate an acting Floor Leader, to preserve order and decorum, and to decide all questions of order, as presiding officer pending the election of the Speaker, during the inaugural session of the House;
  • To prepare the Order of Business for the inaugural session of the House which shall include:
  • a Resolution informing the President of the Philippines that the House of Representatives has been organized and has elected its Speaker, Deputy Speakers, Secretary General and Sergeant-at-Arms;
  • a Resolution informing the Senate of the Philippines that the House of Representatives has been organized and has elected its Speaker, Deputy Speakers, Secretary General and Sergeant-at-Arms;
  • a Concurrent Resolution of the House of Representatives and the Senate of the Philippines providing for a joint session to hear the State of the Nation Address of the President of the Philippines; and
  • a Concurrent Resolution authorizing the appointment of a joint committee of both Houses to inform the President of the Philippines that Congress, in joint session, is ready to receive the President for the State of the Nation Address;
• To enforce orders and decisions of the House;
• To prepare and distribute copies of the Order of Business of the House to all Members;
• e. to attend, personally or through representative, all sessions of the House, call the roll of the Members and read bills, resolutions, messages, communications, memorials, petitions and other documents which should be reported to the House or the reading of which is required by the House or the Speaker;
• To note all questions of order and the decisions thereon, the records of which shall be printed at the close of each session for the use of the Members as appendix to the Journal of such session;
• To keep, certify and distribute to the Members the Journal of each session which shall be a clear and succinct account of the business conducted and actions taken by the House: Provided, That Journals of executive sessions shall be recorded in a separate book and kept confidential;
• To provide the House with information on approved bills to be transmitted to the President for action;
• To distribute to Members, within six (6) months after the close of a regular session, copies of the Record of the House for a regular session and the acts and resolutions passed and adopted during the same;
• To make available on the House website within six (6) months after the close of every regular session, the Record of the House;
• To distribute to Members, at the commencement of every regular session, a list of the reports submitted to the House by each head of department of the Executive and Judicial Departments;
• To procure and retain sufficient copies of books, records and documents for the use of the Members and the officers of the House in the library of the House and in the office of the Secretary General;
• To attest to and affix the seal of the House on all writs, warrants and subpoenae issued by or upon order of the House or the Speaker;
• To certify and affix the seal of the House on all approved measures, orders, acts and resolutions
• To submit to the Speaker all contracts and agreements for approval;
• To ensure that the employees of the House perform their duties competently, efficiently and effectively, and in furtherance thereof, to impose necessary disciplinary measures and recommend dismissal of erring employees to the Speaker in accordance with Civil Service rules, and to recommend to the Speaker policies and programs on recruitment and hiring of competent professionals, the improvement of the capabilities of House personnel to provide needed technical and other support services to the Members, and the acquisition, improvement and upgrading of necessary facilities and equipment;
• To appoint personnel of the House when authorized by the Speaker;
• To serve as custodian of the property and records of the House and all government property within the House premises, and to make an inventory of all these property and records at the beginning and end of each regular session;
• To cause the publication of the attendance record of Members in sessions of the House and their voting records on bills of national application in accordance with rules and regulations to be issued by the House; and
• To perform other duties that may be assigned or ordered by the House or by the Speaker.

Secretaries General of the House of Representatives

The following persons served as Secretary General of the House of Representatives:

No.	Portrait	Name	Term start	Term end	Legislature		Refs.
					Name	Order
–		Gregorio S. Araneta	September 15, 1898	November 13, 1899	National Assembly
–		Pablo Ocampo
1		Julian Gerona	October 16, 1907	1910	Philippine Assembly	1st Legislature
–		Manuel G. Gavieres Acting	1910	1910		2nd Legislature
–		Gregorio Nieva Acting	1910	1910
2		Ramon Diokno	1910	1912
3		Teodoro Kalaw	1912	1912		3rd Legislature
4		Rafael Villanueva	October 16, 1916	1919	House of Representatives of the Philippine Islands	4th Legislature
5		Rafael Palma	1919	1922		5th Legislature
–		Narciso Pimentel Acting	1922	1923		6th Legislature
6		Feliciano Gomez	1923	1923
7		Ricardo Gonzalez Lloret	1925	1929		7th Legislature
						8th Legislature
8		Narciso Pimentel	1929	1933
						9th Legislature
9		Julian Lao	1934	1934
10		Eulogio Benitez	1934	November 15, 1935
						10th Legislature
(8)		Narciso Pimentel	November 25, 1935	December 30, 1941	National Assembly of the Commonwealth of the Philippines	1st National Assembly
						2nd National Assembly
			September 25, 1943	February 2, 1944	National Assembly (Second Republic)
			June 9, 1945	May 24, 1946	House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of the Philippines	1st Commonwealth Congress
			May 25, 1946	February 3, 1953		2nd Commonwealth Congress
					House of Representatives of the Republic of the Philippines	1st Congress
						2nd Congress
–		Inocencio B. Pareja Acting	February 4, 1953	May 18, 1953
(8)		Narciso Pimentel	May 19, 1953	August 11, 1957		3rd Congress
–		Inocencio B. Pareja Acting	August 12, 1957	January 26, 1958
11		Inocencio B. Pareja	January 27, 1958	September 23, 1972		4th Congress
						5th Congress
						6th Congress
						7th Congress
12		Antonio M. De Guzman	June 12, 1978	March 25, 1986	Batasang Pambansa	Interim Batasang Pambansa
						Regular Batasang Pambansa
13		Quirino D. Abad Santos Jr.	July 27, 1987	July 26, 1992	House of Representatives of the Republic of the Philippines	8th Congress
14		Camilo L. Sabio	July 27, 1992	July 1996		9th Congress
						10th Congress
15		Roberto P. Nazareno	July 1996	February 2008
						11th Congress
						12th Congress
						13th Congress
						14th Congress
16		Marilyn B. Barua-Yap	February 2008	July 25, 2016
						15th Congress
						16th Congress
17		Cesar Pareja	July 25, 2016	July 30, 2018		17th Congress
–		Dante Roberto P. Maling Acting	July 30, 2018	July 22, 2019
18		Jose Luis G. Montales	July 22, 2019	October 12, 2020		18th Congress
19		Jocelia Bighani C. Sipin	October 12, 2020	November 18, 2020
20		Mark Llandro L. Mendoza	November 18, 2020	July 25, 2022
21		Reginald S. Velasco	July 25, 2022	present		19th Congress