MANILA – With no opponent in the race, House Speaker Lord Allan Velasco has officially been re-elected as Marinduque representative.

The Marinduque Provincial Board of Canvassers on Tuesday proclaimed Velasco as the winner in the congressional polls after the tabulation of all election returns.

Velasco got 100,794 votes in the final tally.

Marinduque has 161,538 registered voters but only recorded a voter turnout of 140,674.

For uncontested positions, candidates need only one vote in order to be declared winners in the upcoming polls.

• Sure winners: 845 candidates running unopposed in 2022 polls

“I am deeply honored and humbled by my reelection to the House of Representatives. I am extremely grateful to the people of my beloved province of Marinduque for putting their trust and faith in me to represent them in Congress for another three years,” Velasco said.

"There’s so much to do for Marinduqueños, and I would very much like to have the honor of representing them again," he said when he filed his certificate of candidacy.

• Speaker Lord Allan Velasco seeks third term in 2022 polls

Velasco was first elected Marinduque representative in 2010. He sought reelection in 2013 but lost to Regina Ongsiako Reyes, whose certificate of candidacy was later canceled by the Comelec after she was found to be a naturalized American citizen.

After almost 3 years of battling it out at the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal and the Supreme Court, Velasco took his oath of office as congressman in February 2016 or 3 months before that year’s general elections.

He ran again for the same post in 2016 and 2019, winning both polls.

In October 2020, Velasco officially took the reins of the lower chamber of Congress, formalizing an unprecedented and legally-contested vote outside the premises of the Batasan Pambansa.

• Velasco lords over House, Cayetano out as Speaker ahead of special session on 2021 budget
• 'A difficult journey': The patience and precision of Lord Allan Velasco

Velasco then had to assert the enforcement of a "gentleman's agreement" he had with Taguig-Pateros Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano for a 15-21 months term-sharing on the House Speakership in the 18th Congress. Cayetano had tried to postpone the enforcement of the deal, citing 2021 budget.

Velasco had met with Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio amid his tussle with Cayetano--a move that was seen as endorsement for the speakership.

• ‘Sara Duterte endorsement of Velasco could spell the end of Cayetano as Speaker’

The son of former Supreme Court Associate Justice and incumbent Marinduque Governor Presbitero Velasco is one of 845 local candidates and 38 House lawmakers who ran unopposed in the 2022 elections.

• Sure winners: 845 candidates running unopposed in 2022 polls

In a 2019 interview, Velasco had no qualms admitting he belongs to a political dynasty, and that he finds nothing wrong about it.

"I don’t have anything against political dynasties. I have friends who are political dynasties in their provinces and districts. The only time I'm against a political dynasty is when they do not deliver.”

He claimed that Marinduque "changed a lot" when he and his mother, Marinduque Mayor Lorna Velasco, were in power.

“Honestly, there are really no political dynasties. Because it’s the people who elect their leaders. So, if the people don’t like who’s running, then they won’t be sitting in their proper place. In other words, we got the mandate of the people,” Velasco said.

• 'Poverty, impunity exists where fat political dynasties thrive'

For live election results, see halalanresults.abs-cbn.com