SENADO 2016, sino nga ba?
Photo credit:
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Teofisto Guingona III
Liberal Party
Born: April 19, 1959
Like father, like son.
This cliché is true for Teofisto “Tito” Guingona Jr. and his son, Teofisto “TG” Guingona III. Just like his father, TG boldly speaks of the anomalies of the government institutions and officials.
As a chair of the Blue Ribbon Committee, he has proven his catchphrase, “galit sa buwaya,” correct by leading investigations which resulted to the resignation of former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, criminal charges filed against Jose Miguel “Mike” Arroyo for the anomaly of selling two second-hand helicopters to the Philippine National Police (PNP), hospital arrest of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for plunder, and charges filed against “pork barrel scam queen” Janet Lim-Napoles and other government officials involved.
His father on the other hand, who also happened to be the chair of Blue Ribbon Committee during his stint as a senator, was best known for his “I accuse” privilege speech in 2000, revealing the corrupt practices of then President Joseph “Erap” Estrada. He called for Estrada’s resignation and exposed all of his violations which led to the latter’s impeachment trial in the Senate, earning him the nickname “graft buster.”
Like his father, Guingona promotes “good governance, ethical leadership, and support effective and ethical leaders in the government.” Even before elected as a senator, he is already considered as Macapagal-Arroyo’s nemesis. In 2010, he opposed Arroyo’s midnight appointments particularly the selection of new Chief Justice. He warned that there will be a so-called “Arroyo Court” even before former CJ Renato Corona took the position. He pushed and supported impeachment complaints against Arroyo.
During the Martial Law, his father was jailed twice because of his opposition of the Marcos Regime. He established SANDATA, an organization seeking social and economic reforms. As a former Justice Secretary, he heightened the implementation of Katarungang Pambarangay, revived the Witness Protection Program, and started the Prosecution Academy.
TG Guingona was born in Manila on 19th of April 1959 to Ruth de Lara, former mayor of Gingoog City, Misamis Orietal, and Teofisto Guingona Jr., vice president during the first term of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s presidency. He has two siblings namely Rollie Guingona, a musician and classical pianist, and Marie Guingona Lamb, mayor of Gingoog City. He is married to Atty. Ma. Victoria Garcia and have a child named Bobby.
He spent all of his school years in Ateneo de Manila University. He graduated elementary education in 1970 and secondary education in 1977. He earned his degree in Economics in 1981, took Bachelor of Laws in the same university, and finished in 1985.
As of 2010, Guingona owns a total of 12 businesses, his wife has 10, and they have two which is conjugal. Examples include being a stockholder of San Miguel Corporation, Sta. Lucia Investments Inc., Philippine Overseas Drilling and Oil Development Corp., Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., and Philex Mining Corp.
He started out his political career as a representative of the second district of Bukidnon for two consecutive terms from 2004 to 2010. In 2010, he ran for senator under the Liberal Party, won, and is now nearing the end of his term.
Guingona is currently the chair of the Senate Committee on Accountability of Public Officers & Investigations or the Blue Ribbon Committee; Peace, Unification, and Reconciliation; Health and Demography; and the Oversight Committee on Anti-Money Laundering.
In the span of three years in office, eight laws he authored were passed. These includes Republic Act 10368 or Marcos Compensation Act, RA 10557 or Philippine National Design Competitiveness Act, RA 10556 or Araw ng Pagbasa, RA 10391 or Amending the PTV 4 Charter Act, RA 10156 or Sangguniang Bayan Eligibility Act, RA 10168 or Anti-Terrorist Financing Act, RA 10367 or Amendment to Anti-Money Laundering Act (“allowing ex-parte inquiries into bank accounts”), and RA 10365 or Amendment to Anti-Money Laundering Act (“expansion of the definition of money laundering, expanded list of covered persons and predicate crimes”).
Guingona is also firm in his stance on major political issues in our country. He pushes for the passage of Poverty Reduction Policy through social entrepreneurship. According to him, “opportunities for economic activities should continually rise in order for our economy to grow inclusively to benefit the poor citizens.” As the committee chair on Health and Demography, he also filed a bill seeking to institutionalize the funding of 4PS or Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.
In 2012, he in a petition asked the Supreme Court to declare Cybercrime Prevention Act as unconstitutional as it violates the people’s freedom of speech and expression as said in the 1987 Constitution. That year also, Guingona was among the 13 senators who said yes to the Reproductive Health Bill.
In May 2015, he called for revisions of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) to guarantee that indigenous and non-Muslim people living in planned autonomous region will be treated equally. In the same year, Guingona together with Senator Antonio Trillanes IV led an inquiry on the reclamation and illegal activities being done by China in the disputed territories of West Philippine Sea.
In this upcoming 2016 national elections, Guingona will run again for senate.
References
https://www.senate.gov.ph/senators/sen_bio/guingona_tg_bio.asp
https://www.senate.gov.ph/senators/sen_bio/guingona_tg_resume.asp
https://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2013/0606_guingona1.asp
https://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2013/0606_guingona1.asp
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/764419/drilon-worries-about-tg-guingona
https://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2014/0821_guingona1.asp
https://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2015/0923_guingona1.asp
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/278368/cybercrime-prevention-act-unconstitutional-senator-guingona
https://www.senate.gov.ph/press_release/2015/0527_guingona1.asp