1. Pia Cayetano, 58, a lawyer, economist, triathlete and mother, she is the epitome of a Pinay In Action and a woman leader for our times.
In nearly two decades, she has had a hand in landmark laws on health care, education and measures to support economic growth.
She chairs the Senate committees on accountability (Blue Ribbon) and energy.
Pia sponsored the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act (CREATE) as chairperson of the committee on ways and means in the 18th Congress.
CREATE was supposed to stimulate the economy by reducing income taxes of large corporations and harmonize the tax system. Instead, big business pocketed their tax savings, declared them cash dividends rather than plowing them back into business to create jobs. Thus, a CREATE Part II, called CREATE MORE, must be created.
Pia’s Pinay In Action promotes health and wellness, helps poor and differently-abled children. In 2019, she started Pilipinas In Action to help mobilize aid to sectors worst hit by the pandemic.
2. Panfilo Lacson, 76, remains one of the most effective, and honest, chiefs of the Philippine National Police. PNP was recently described by a floating police colonel as one of the country’s biggest criminal syndicates – in cahoots with drug lords and all types of nefarious criminal-minded elements.
In previous stints as senator, Ping was an untiring, steadfast no nonsense watchdog of the national budget, making sure dubious congressional insertions (pork barrel) and wasteful appropriations were checked and deleted. Still, up to 40 percent of the budget (which today, averages P6 trillion a year) is stolen.
He was a sui generis of a senator, a class by himself. He did not touch his pork – P200 million a year or P1.2 billion in six years.
He continuously fights against corruption, including pork barrel in all its iterations.
Lacson failed in his 2022 bid for president. But he remains one of the most beloved senators of our time.
3. Imee Marcos, 68, who finished UP Law, has decades of local governance and creativity under her belt that have molded her distinct brand of proactive and innovative leadership.
As the eldest Marcos scion, she thinks she was supposed to inherit her dad’s political legacy, which is immense, it being the longest presidency. Instead, only bro, Ferdinand Jr. (aka BBM), ended up being the president and has proven himself equal to the task, enjoying wide popularity, here and abroad.
So now, Imee is the Oppositionist, and has staked her lot and luck with the Dutertes who unhappily have lately been getting a beating in public opinion polls for past violent transgressions and impunity.
Many fear that one of these days, one or two Dutertes will be collared for alleged crimes against humanity (read: mass murder) before the International Criminal Court. Imee is adamant against the Philippines’ likely re-engaging with the ICC, contending such would “cause great shame for the Filipinos.” The local justice system can handle hot potatoes like the Dutertes who must then engage with BBM.
In the 19th Congress, “I am just Me” chairs four Senate committees: cooperatives; electoral reforms and people’s participation; foreign relations and social justice, welfare and rural development. The Senate has at least 41 committees and there are only 22 or 23 working senators.
In December 2022, she submitted legislative proposals known as “fruit salad” bills, designed to advocate for and safeguard the interests of the Philippines’ pineapple, moringa, dragon fruit and mango industries.
4. Tito Sotto, 76, is the only senator who can seamlessly switch from one career to another – being an accomplished public servant, lawmaker, sportsman and artist in his own right.
He has excelled in all these fields – uncompromising and giving his best – as a true master of his fate.
So far, he has sponsored and authored more than a hundred laws, making him one of the most prolific senators.
At the height of his popularity, public service beckoned. He realized there was more to life and it was time to give back.
For him, his family is his best treasure, and an untarnished record as a public servant, his lasting legacy.
5. Erwin Tulfo, 60, made his name a verb – i-Tulfo mo. Meaning bring justice to the aggrieved, prosecute or persecute the corrupt and criminal offender and overall, give to the common folks what they lack in life.
Erwin is a Filipino politician, a former news anchor, broadcaster and columnist. He currently serves as a representative for ACT-CIS Party-list and a Deputy Majority Leader of the Philippine House of Representatives since 2023.
He previously served as President BBM’s secretary of Social Welfare and Development, June 30 to Dec. 27, 2022. His appointment was bypassed by the Commission on Appointments.
Erwin worked with PTV’s flagship primetime news program Ulat Bayan and one of its AM radio counterparts Radyo Pilipinas (RP1)’s Tutok Erwin Tulfo; co-hosted T3: Kapatid Sagot Kita! together with his brothers Raffy and Ben, and was one of the news anchors of Aksyon on TV5 and AksyonTV. He has worked for ABS-CBN, Radio Philippines Network (RPN) and Intercontinental Broadcasting Corporation (IBC).
6. Camille Villar, 39, is a fresh face, a new voice, with the genes and gravitas of two dynastic families, that of her dad, former Speaker Manny Villar, the richest brown billionaire ($10.9 billion net worth), and her feisty mother’s, Cynthia whose family has ruled Las Piñas for more than four decades.
Camille was managing the retail business of the Villar Group when dragooned into politics, winning their family enclave’s long congressional district. In Congress, she was elected a deputy speaker, representing dad’s Nacionalista Party.
She has curated her own youthful public service brand, with a focus on improving education, especially for the youth and women, strengthening entrepreneurship and supporting SMEs to achieve inclusion.
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