Edgardo Angara

Edgardo Javier Angara (, September 24, 1934 – May 13, 2018) was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as Senate 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 the University 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, President Rodrigo Duterte appointed Angara as the special envoy of the Philippines to the European Union.

Early life and career

Edgardo Angara was born on September 24, 1934, in Baler, then part of the sub-province of Aurora in Tayabas (now Quezon), to Juan Angara and Juana Javier. He earned his law degree from the University of the Philippines in 1958. While in university, he joined the Sigma Rho fraternity. Upon graduation, he was elected to the Pi Gamma Mu and Phi Kappa Phi international honor societies. He earned his LL.M. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1964.

Angara was a delegate to the 1971 Constitutional Convention representing the first district of Quezon. 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 the Integrated Bar of the Philippines from 1979 to 1981. He also founded the ASEAN Law Association and became its founding president from 1980 to 1981.

Senate Presidency (1993−1995) 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. It was likewise during his term that the Senate adopted a policy to reimpose the death penalty for heinous crimes and saw the ratification of the Earth Summit treaty, along with five pro-environment treaties, many of which have already been enacted into law. Although Estrada overwhelmingly won the presidential race, Angara placed second in a field of nine candidates, losing to Senator Gloria Macapagal Arroyo of Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino. Arroyo won 12.6 million votes compared to Angara's 5.6 million.

Estrada administration (1998−2001)

Chairman of the Philippine National Bank (1998–1999) 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 the Philippine National Bank, then a government-owned bank. During his tenure, major policy reforms as well as innovations were introduced by him at the said bank.

Agriculture Secretary (1999−2001) In 1999, Angara was appointed Secretary of Agriculture by Estrada. 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.

Executive Secretary (2001) On January 6, 2001, as Estrada's presidency was crippled by an impeachment trial and widespread allegations of corruption, Angara was appointed Executive Secretary following the resignation of Ronaldo Zamora, who resigned to run for Congress. He only served for 14 days, as Estrada was toppled by the EDSA 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.

Return to the Senate (2001–2013) Angara successfully ran for senator in the 2001 Philippine election. which created the Aurora Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA), the body tasked to administer the economic 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 as APECO. The APECO was created to generate jobs and livelihood not only for Aurora but its neighboring provinces. As a logistics hub, most consider it as a very timely and strategic infrastructure investment for the Philippines catering to Trans-Pacific Ocean traffic.

In the Senate, Angara chaired the Committee on Education, Arts and Culture, Committee on Science and Technology, and the Congressional Commission on Science and Technology and Engineering.

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 Justice Renato Corona and was one of the 20 Senator-Judges that voted 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 of Aurora in the 2013 Philippine election, but he withdrew and was replaced by his younger brother, Baler Mayor Arthur 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 senator Miriam Defensor Santiago, helping the younger Angara to be elected.

Death Edgardo Angara died from an apparent heart attack on May 13, 2018, at the age of 83. His death was announced by his son Sonny over his Twitter page. Angara's necrological services were conducted in the Senate halls on the morning of May 16. His former Senate colleagues such as Sen. Wigberto Tañada attended his funeral, while others such as Rene Saguisag, Pia Cayetano, Nene Pimentel, and former Presidents Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Joseph Estrada, gave eulogies to Angara. President Rodrigo Duterte and Vice President Leni Robredo visited Angara's funeral in The Heritage Park in Taguig. His remains were buried in his hometown of Baler, Aurora.

In popular culture 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 by Christopher de Leon, with younger versions portrayed by Raikko Mateo and James Blanco.

Electoral history