SENADO 2016, sino nga ba?

Dante Liban

Independent

Born January 7, 1947

Sampaloc Manila, Philippines

He served three consecutive terms as congressman of the 2nd District of Quezon City from 1992 to 2001, is an independent senatorial candidate in the May 2016 elections.

Once given a seat in the Senate, among his top priorities are agricultural development and agrarian reform, a special bank for overseas Filipino workers, and continuous efforts to put into law the prohibition of political dynasties.

He was the principal author of 509 Republic Acts and Congressional Resolutions and was co-author to 2,274 bills during his time in public office.

Liban was among those who waited for Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte to file his certificate of candidacy (COC) for president last October 2015 at the Palacio del Governador.

“We’re optimistic that he’ll heed the call of the people that’s why we’re here,” Liban said, who purportedly filed his COC under Duterte’s ticket.

Liban, who was born in Sampaloc, Manila in 1947, spent 30 years as a Red Cross Volunteer and 12 years as governor of the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC). He also became chairman of PNRC’s Quezon City Chapter for seven years.

Last 2014, Liban was acquitted of theft charges made against him in 2007 when he served as PNRC’s governor. The case stemmed from a complaint by former Senator Richard Gordon that involved Liban and a former QC Red Cross youth coordinator stealing a CPU from the PNRC-QC office and moving it to the Red Cross Disaster Management office in UP Diliman.

The court said Liban had an intricate and logical explanation on why he moved the CPU and neither he nor the volunteer had any intent to gain when it was moved.

Years preceding this incident, Liban was active in many fields such as media; when he was a regular columnist in the Philippine tabloid Bulgar. He was also appointed by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as director general of the Technical Education and Skill Development Authority (TESDA) in 2002. He has life memberships in the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), Boy Scouts of the Philippines, and the University of the Philippines Alumni Association.

Liban had his basic education in Quirino Elementary School and the high school department of what is now the Trinity University of Asia.

His family is active in the Couples for Christ Community. He has four daughters; one a lawyer based in California, the second a doctor for Medical City in Pasig, the third a nurse based in Canado, and the fourth a culinary practitioner in Australia. He has a son as his youngest child, and the former Marvina De Leon Reina of La Paz, Iloilo as his wife.

References:

http://interaksyon.com/article/125113/i-deserve-your-vote-video-series-dante-liban

http://www.manilatimes.net/4-cornered-fight-looms/224192/

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/660901/ex-red-cross-head-cleared-in-theft-case

http://www.central.com.ph/bookstoreplus/authordetails/217/