Senator Edgardo J. Angara

Biography

Edgardo J. Angara, first elected in 1987, is the longest serving Senator in the post-EDSA Senate and considered one of the best legislators in contemporary history.

The gentleman from Aurora began his political career when he was elected as one of the youngest delegates to the 1971 Constitutional Convention.  A year later he founded what would become one of the country’s top law firms, ACCRA.

It was his tenure as President of University of the Philippines from 1981-1987 where he made his mark and rose to national prominence.  Angara gained the respect of the academe for his professionalism and determination to make the state university attain its true status as the premiere educational center in the country.

Throughout his years in public service, 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.

The same reputation enabled him as Senate President (1993-1995) and as Senator (1987-1998, 2001-present) to get through the legislative gridlock that stood between the Legislative and  Executive branches of government.

The legislative work of this prolific lawmaker consists of mainstream laws that have made a difference in the lives of others, especially the poor and underprivileged.

These include the Free High School Act which ensured secondary education even for the poorest students; the Senior Citizens Act (or The Angara Law) which allowed the elderly to avail of substantial discounts when buying medicine or availing of public transport; the National Health Insurance Act, or PHILHEALTH, that provided insurance to every citizen; and the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE), the country's biggest scholarship program in private schools.

As chairman of the Congressional Commission on Education, Angara sponsored laws that resulted in the creation of the Commission on Higher Education and the Technical Education and Skill Development Authority, both of which enabled the Department of Education to focus on its main concern – basic education.

He also sponsored 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, or PHILHEALTH, that provided insurance to every citizen; the Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GASTPE), the biggest scholarship program.

Under his Agriculture 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 new National Museum and the National Commission on Culture and the Arts.

As secretary of agriculture (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 self-sufficiency. Overall, the agricultural sector saw a growth rate of three percent since 2000, compared with a 1.2 percent growth over the past two decades.

He served as executive secretary (2001), albeit briefly, during the presidency of Joseph Estrada, and oversaw the peaceful transition of power after the second people power revolution.

As Philippine National Bank chairman (1998-1999), he made the bank a major player in the domestic financial market.

Upon assuming the leadership of LDP, the dominant opposition party, he began to quietly transform the party into formidable institution bent on effecting change in the political and economic infrastructure of the country, like decentralizing the national government and removing barriers that hinder the entry of foreign investment.

As a testament to his international experience, he was elected in 2005 as charter president of the Southeast Asia Parliamentarians Against Corruption. Not coincidentally, Angara was the author of the Procurement Reform Act, the biggest anti-corruption law in Philippine history, as well as the father of the Ombudsman Law.

Mainstream legislation on education, health, senior citizens, agriculture modernization, and culture; serious concern with infrastructure, job creation and corruption; and his current advocacies of boosting national competitiveness, improving social welfare, pursuing political and financial reform, and protecting the environment and our cultural heritage  makes Angara a lawmaker in tune with, even ahead of, the times.

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