Edgardo Angara | |
|---|---|
 Angara in 2000 | |
| 16thPresident of the Senate of the Philippines | |
| In office January 18, 1993 – August 28, 1995 | |
| President | Fidel V. Ramos |
| Preceded by | Neptali Gonzales |
| Succeeded by | Neptali Gonzales |
| Senator of the Philippines | |
| In office June 30, 2001 – June 30, 2013 | |
| In office June 30, 1987 – June 30, 1998 | |
| 32ndExecutive Secretary of the Philippines | |
| In office January 6, 2001 – January 20, 2001 | |
| President | Joseph Estrada |
| Preceded by | Ronaldo Zamora |
| Succeeded by | Renato de Villa |
| 35thSecretary of Agriculture | |
| In office May 25, 1999 – January 6, 2001 | |
| President | Joseph Estrada |
| Preceded by | William Dar |
| Succeeded by | Domingo F. Panganiban |
| Senate Minority Leader | |
| In office August 28, 1995 – October 10, 1996 | |
| Preceded by | Wigberto Tañada |
| Succeeded by | Neptali Gonzales |
| 15thPresident of the University of the Philippines | |
| In office 1981–1987 | |
| Preceded by | Emanuel V. Soriano |
| Succeeded by | José Abueva |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Edgardo Javier Angara (1934-09-24)September 24, 1934 |
| Died | May 13, 2018(2018-05-13) (aged 83) |
| Political party | LDP (1992–2018) |
| Other political affiliations | Independent (1987–1992) |
| Spouse | Gloria Manalang |
| Children | Rosalyn "Anna" Angara Juan Edgardo "Sonny" Angara Alexandria "Alex" Angara-Cole Katerina "Katya" Angara |
| Alma mater | University of the Philippines[which?] (LL.B) University of Michigan (LL.M) |
| Profession | Lawyer |
Edgardo Javier Angara (Tagalog pronunciation:[aŋˈɡara], September 24, 1934 – May 13, 2018)[1][2] was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served asSenate President from 1993 to 1995. Angara had the second longest tenure in the history of the Senate, serving four terms and a total of twenty-three years. As a legislator, Angara has championed numerous important laws and bills including the free high school law, the Senior Citizen discount law, and many more.
In between his Senate stints, Angara also served as Secretary of Agriculture from 1999 to 2001 and also held other government positions briefly.
Outside politics, Angara served as the President of theUniversity of the Philippines and also established himself as one of the most important figures in the bar when he was elected president of the Philippine Bar Association, the nation's oldest voluntary bar society. In 1975, he also served as president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), the country's unified association of lawyers.
His leadership was acknowledged even on a global scale. He was chosen to serve as the first president of the largest regional legal association in the world, the Association of Southeast Asian Countries (ASEAN) Law Association, when it was founded in 1980.
On May 17, 2017, PresidentRodrigo Duterte appointed Angara as the special envoy of the Philippines to theEuropean Union.[3]
Edgardo Angara was born on September 24, 1934, inBaler, then part of the sub-province ofAurora inTayabas (now Quezon), to Juan Angara and Juana Javier.[4][5] He earned his law degree from theUniversity of the Philippines[which?] in 1958.[6] While in university, he joined theSigma Rho fraternity.[7] Upon graduation, he was elected to thePi Gamma Mu andPhi Kappa Phi international honor societies.[8] He earned hisLL.M. from theUniversity of Michigan Law School in 1964.[9]
Angara was a delegate to the1971 Constitutional Convention representing the first district ofQuezon.[4] In May 1972, he together with classmates (and fraternity brothers from Sigma Rho) from the UP College of Law andJuan Ponce Enrile, founded the ACCRA Law Offices,[10] which became the country's most recognized and prestigious law firm in less than a decade. He became president of the Philippine Bar Association from 1975 to 1976, and of theIntegrated Bar of the Philippines from 1979 to 1981. He also founded the ASEAN Law Association and became its founding president from 1980 to 1981.[9]
From 1981 to 1987, Angara became president of theUniversity of the Philippines.[9] He rallied alumni in the country and abroad to pool their resources for various projects to mark the university's diamond jubilee in 1983, including the creation of additional professorial chairs and faculty grants. Through his efforts, the liberal arts curriculum was strengthened, a seven-year honors medical curriculum installed, humanities and science were energized, and a multi-campus university organization was instituted. He defended the state university's tradition of dissent and fiscal autonomy, while maintaining its reputation for academic excellence. He established stronger links with the business community and alumni organizations, raising the biggest faculty endowment in the university.
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Angara's achievements brought him into politics. He first served as senator from 1987 until 1992. By this time, he had established a reputation as a resolute reformer and firm leader, winning praise for his non-confrontational stance on contentious domestic and international issues, while building consensus at the same time.[from whom?]
On September 16, 1989, Angara led a one-day forum with Alfonso J. Aguirre for the centennial ofJosé Rizal's essay "Filipinas dentro de cien años" ("The Philippines, a Century Hence").[11]
He was Senate President from 1993 to 1995. As the Senate Chief, Angara, with his aggressive and consensus-building approach leadership style, rallied the upper chamber to pass bills and resolutions for an executive-legislative cooperation in economic reforms, which resulted in the Economic Summit of August 1993.[12] It was likewise during his term that the Senate adopted a policy to reimpose thedeath penalty for heinous crimes and saw the ratification of theEarth Summit treaty, along with five pro-environment treaties, many of which have already been enacted into law.[6]
In August 1995, he resigned from the Senate Presidency and was elected as the new Minority Leader of the Senate.
As chairman of the Congressional Commission on Education from 1990 to 1991, Angara sponsored laws that resulted in the creation of theCommission on Higher Education and theTechnical Education and Skill Development Authority, both of which enabled theDepartment of Education to focus on its main concern - basic education.
He authored the Free High School Act that ensured secondary education even for the poorest; the Senior Citizens Act (or The Angara Law) that allowed the elderly to avail of substantial discounts when buying medicine or riding public transport; the National Health Insurance Act, orPhilHealth, that provided insurance to every citizen; and the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE), the biggest scholarship program.
Under hisAgriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA), farmers and fisher folk benefited from improved seeds and plant materials, better irrigation, better financing and market access.
He authored the Magna Carta for Public Health Workers and was the principal author of the laws that created the newNational Museum and theNational Commission on Culture and the Arts.
Angara prepared to run for president in the1998 Philippine election, but decided against it when it became clear that he could not win over the popular vice presidentJoseph Estrada. He accepted a deal offered by Estrada to run as his vice presidential candidate instead.[13] Although Estrada overwhelmingly won the presidential race, Angara placed second in a field of nine candidates, losing to SenatorGloria Macapagal Arroyo ofKabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino. Arroyo won 12.6 million votes compared to Angara's 5.6 million.[14]
Upon the inauguration of Estrada as president on June 30, 1998, Angara was named by him to be the chairman of the board of directors of thePhilippine National Bank, then agovernment-owned bank. During his tenure, major policy reforms as well as innovations were introduced by him at the said bank.[example needed]
In 1999, Angara was appointedSecretary of Agriculture by Estrada.[15] During his term as secretary (1999–2001), he had the opportunity to implement his own creation, AFMA. He oversaw an improvement of food production programs and support services that led to a bigger harvest of rice, a development that underscored the drive to attain food security. Overall, the agricultural sector saw a growth rate of 3.6 percent a year since 2000, compared with a 1.2 percent growth over the past two decades.[16]
On January 6, 2001, as Estrada's presidency was crippled by animpeachment trial and widespread allegations of corruption, Angara was appointedExecutive Secretary following the resignation ofRonaldo Zamora, who resigned to run for Congress.[17] He only served for 14 days, as Estrada was toppled by theEDSA II Revolution on January 20. Angara remained loyal to Estrada until the end of his presidency, though he later asserted that his support for Estrada was contingent on the latter's undertaking to pass reforms.[18]
Angara successfully ran for senator in the2001 Philippine election.[6]
He was re-elected to a fourth term in 2007,[6] making him the longest-serving senator in the post-EDSA revolution legislature, matching SenatorLorenzo Tanada who served four consecutive terms from 1947 to 1972.[10] Angara authored or sponsored many laws including the Free High School Education Act, the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education or GASTPE Law, the Generics Act, the law which created Philhealth, the original Senior Citizens Act, Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization Act, Government Procurement Act, the Renewable Energy Act, among several others.[10]
In 2007, Senator Edgardo Angara and Rep.Juan Edgardo Angara authored Republic Act No. 9490[19] which created the Aurora Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA), the body tasked to administer theeconomic zone in Brgy. Motiong,Casiguran,Aurora. Later on, Republic Act No. 10083 was enacted which amended the name to Aurora Pacific Economic Zone and Freeport Authority or better known asAPECO.[20] TheAPECO was created to generate jobs and livelihood not only for Aurora but its neighboring provinces. As a logistics hub, it is a very timely and strategic infrastructure investment for the Philippines catering to Trans-Pacific Ocean traffic.[21]
In the Senate, Angara chaired theCommittee on Education, Arts and Culture,[22]Committee on Science and Technology,[23] and theCongressional Commission on Science and Technology and Engineering.[24]
From January 16 to May 29, 2012, Angara acted as one of the Senator-Judges in the impeachment trial of the Senate of then Chief JusticeRenato Corona and was one of the 20 Senator-Judges thatvoted to convict him of the impeachment charges exhibited by the House of Representatives and remove him from public office.
On October 3, 2012, he announced his candidacy for governor ofAurora in the2013 Philippine election, but he withdrew and was replaced by his younger brother,Baler MayorArthur Angara.
On June 30, 2013, Angara's fourth term in the Senate ended but his son,Sonny placed a bid for Senator, he endorsed his son and campaigned with him with help from fellow senatorMiriam Defensor Santiago, helping the younger Angara to be elected.
Edgardo Angara died from an apparentheart attack on May 13, 2018, at the age of 83. His death was announced by his sonSonny over hisTwitter page. Angara's necrological services were conducted in theSenate halls on the morning of May 16. His former Senate colleagues such as Sen.Wigberto Tañada attended his funeral, while others such asRene Saguisag,Pia Cayetano,Nene Pimentel, and former PresidentsGloria Macapagal Arroyo andJoseph Estrada, gaveeulogies to Angara. PresidentRodrigo Duterte and Vice PresidentLeni Robredo visited Angara's funeral in The Heritage Park inTaguig. His remains were buried in his hometown ofBaler, Aurora.[25][26]
Senator Edgardo Angara's life was dramatized in the episode of ABS-CBN's drama anthology series,Maalaala Mo Kaya, titled "Family Portrait", originally aired on February 2, 2019. He was portrayed byChristopher de Leon, with younger versions portrayed by Raikko Mateo and James Blanco.
| Year | Office | Party | Votes received | Result | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | % | P. | Swing | |||||
| 1987 | Senator of the Philippines | IND | 11,288,407 | 49.64% | 5th | — | Won | |
| 1992 | LDP | 8,019,011 | 33.06% | 3rd | -16.58 | Won | ||
| 2001 | 10,805,177 | 36.66% | 9th | +3.60 | Won | |||
| 2007 | 12,657,769 | 42.91% | 7th | +6.25 | Won | |||
| 1998 | Vice President of the Philippines | 5,652,068 | 22.11% | 2nd | — | Lost | ||
| Academic offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Emmanuel V. Soriano | President of the University of the Philippines 1981–1987 | Succeeded by |
| Senate of the Philippines | ||
| Preceded by | President of the Senate 1993–1995 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minority Floor Leader 1995–1996 | |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Secretary of Agriculture 1999–2001 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Executive Secretary 2001 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | LDP nominee forVice President of the Philippines 1998 | Most recent |
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