Heherson Alvarez

Heherson "Sonny" Turingan Alvarez (October 26, 1939 – April 20, 2020) was a politician from the Philippines. He served as a member of the House of Representatives and the Senate of the Philippines. He was also Minister (then Secretary) of Agrarian Reform from 1986 to 1987 and Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources from 2001 to 2002.

Education Sonny Alvarez studied liberal arts at the University of the Philippines. He also earned a master's degree in Economics and Public Administration from Harvard University.

Career 1971 constitutional convention Alvarez was a young activist who participated in the 1971 constitutional convention. He refused to sign the Ferdinand Marcos regime backed constitution that gave extensions to the president's term in office.

Escape from the dictatorship On the day when Ferdinand Marcos suddenly imposed martial, Alvarez had been at the University of the Philippines Diliman attending a public forum with Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. When his girlfriend Cecile Guidote told him that she had work to finish and could not join him for their planned dinner, he decided to stay overnight at his ConCon office to work on a speech. As a result, he was able to evade Marcos' soldiers who had succeeded in arresting most of the oppositionist ConCon delegates, including Aquino.

He went into hiding in various places for a while, but the oppositionists soon suggested that he go to the US to help gather support for their resistance against Marcos, working with Senator Raul Manglapus who had likewise escaped capture because he was overseas on a speaking engagement when martial law was declared.

Exile during martial law While in exile, he was one of the organizers of the Movement for a Free Philippines, which did what it could to bring the dictatorship to an end. When Ninoy Aquino was assassinated in 1983, Alvarez organized the Ninoy Aquino Movement, which lobbied for the US Government to stop supporting Marcos, despite the latter's closeness to Ronald Reagan.

Their father, Capt. Marcelo Alvarez, who had begged Sonny to be more discreet in his opposition to Marcos, died of a heart attack after he learned of Marsman's death.

Senator Alvarez also held two cabinet positions - Secretary of Agrarian Reform (February 7, 1987 – March 7, 1987) and Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources (March 29, 2001 – December 13, 2002). He was known as staunch environmentalist as he was called "Mr. Environment" during his term as Environmental Secretary.

From 2009 to 2016, he served as commissioner and vice chair of the Climate Change Commission.

Personal life Alvarez married artist and activist Cecile Guidote; the couple had two children, Hexilon and Herxilla. Guidote is the better known host of radio drama anthology program Radyo Balintataw on DZRH.

Death Senator Alvarez and wife, Cecile contracted the COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines sometime in March. They were both hospitalized. CNN reported that Heherson Alvarez underwent experimental plasma therapy treatment and blood plasma convalescent therapy. On April 20, 2020, Alvarez died in Manila due to complications from COVID-19.