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House Speaker introduces girlfriend as 'current wife'

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ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/news/02/17/jennifer.jpg"/><figcaption>House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez with partner Jennifer Vicencio, who he introduced as his current wife in a speech in Davao del Norte. Hernel Tocmo, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div>House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Saturday introduced his girlfriend as his current wife during a public speaking engagement in Davao del Norte.&quot;Siya na ang misis ko ngayon. Tingnan niyong mabuti baka may mamamasyal (na iba), magpapakilala (bilang siya), fake news &#x27;yan,&quot; Alvarez said in a speech during the groundbreaking ceremony of a hospital in San Isidro town.(She&#x27;s my wife now. Look at her closely because someone else might come and introduce herself as my wife. That&#x27;s fake news.)Alvarez has been in a relationship with a certain Jennifer Malinawag Vicencio despite being married to Emelita Apostol Alvarez.Alvarez&#x27;s legal wife earlier said she was &quot;abandoned&quot; by her husband in 2016 after he was elected as House Speaker.“Actually, I was abandoned right after SONA (State of the Nation Address) when he became the Speaker. We&#x27;ve been together for almost 30 years and I’ve been there since the very start, that was in [19]88. We’ve been through ups and downs, I’m there and people of Davao del Norte will testify that I was even the one who campaigned for him,&quot; she told ABS-CBN News in an interview last year.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/28/17/speakers-wife-breaks-silence-i-was-abandoned-after-2016-sona">Speaker’s wife breaks silence: I was &#x27;abandoned&#x27; after 2016 SONA</a></li></ul><div>TRIBAL LAWS AND THE FAMILY CODE</div>Alvarez earlier claimed he was not violating any law as he was a member of the Manobo tribe that allows polygamy.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/03/18/speaker-willing-to-marry-girlfriend-despite-married-status">Speaker willing to marry girlfriend despite married status</a></li>	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/25/17/alvarez-defends-dissolution-of-marriage-bill-claims-hes-a-member-of-manobo-tribe">Alvarez defends dissolution of marriage bill, claims he&#x27;s a member of Manobo tribe</a></li></ul>According to the government website of Bukidnon, where most of the Manobo tribe are based, a Manobo member may &quot;take another wife only if the first wife and her parents consented.&quot;It said polygamy was &quot;rarely practiced&quot; and, in such cases, &quot;the first wife remained the head wife.&quot;In an earlier interview, a legal expert also said that Alvarez&#x27;s tribal ties cannot dissolve his prior marriage because he was wed to Emelita in a civil union.&quot;If the Speaker was married under the Family Code and now he is a member of the Manobo tribe, with all due respect, it doesn&#x27;t give him the license to live a polygamous life,&quot; said Soledad Mawis, dean of the Lyceum College of Law, in an ANC interview in August last year. &quot;It is because the first marriage contracted under the Family Code, must first be dissolved or terminated before he can marry someone else,&quot; she said.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/16/17/manobo-alvarez-not-off-the-hook-under-family-code">&#x27;Manobo&#x27; Alvarez not off the hook under Family Code?</a></li></ul><div> &#x27;OPEN SECRET&#x27;</div>Alvarez&#x27;s colleagues in the House of Representatives have said his extramarital relationship has been an open secret.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/04/03/17/alvarez-affair-an-open-secret-in-congress-roque">Alvarez affair an open secret in Congress: Roque</a></li></ul>The House Speaker openly talked about his relationship with Vicencio after his lover had a spat with the partner of Davao del Norte Rep. Antonio Floirendo Jr. during the 2016 MassKara Festival in Bacolod.Months after the altercation, Alvarez severed ties with Floirendo and launched a graft probe against President Rodrigo Duterte&#x27;s top campaign donor.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/28/17/speaker-wants-top-duterte-campaign-donor-probed-for-graft">Speaker wants top Duterte campaign donor probed for graft</a></li>	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/30/17/floirendos-partner-on-feud-with-alvarez-it-all-boils-down-to-greed">Floirendo&#x27;s partner on feud with Alvarez: &#x27;It all boils down to greed&#x27;</a></li></ul>Alvarez has filed a bill for the dissolution of marriages, and championed the civil union bill that legalizes civil partnerships. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/09/17/trapped-in-a-loveless-unhappy-marriage-alvarez-offers-solution">Trapped in a loveless, unhappy marriage? Alvarez offers solution</a></li>	<li><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/01/04/18/alvarez-wants-law-protecting-ugly-rich-spouses">Alvarez wants law protecting &#x27;ugly, rich&#x27; spouses</a></li></ul><div>-- with reports from Hernel Tocmo and Katrina Domingo, ABS-CBN News</div>

House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Saturday introduced his girlfriend as his current wife during a public speaking engagement in Davao del Norte.

House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on Saturday introduced his girlfriend as his current wife during a public speaking engagement in Davao del Norte.