Everything about Raul Roco totally explained
Raul Sagarbarria Roco (
October 26,
1941 –
August 5,
2005) was a political figure in the
Philippines. He was the standard-bearer of
Aksyon Demokratiko, which he founded in
1997 as a vehicle for his presidential bids in
1998 and
2004. He was a former
senator and the Secretary of the Department of Education under the presidency of
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. He had a strong following among young voters in the Philippines, due to his efforts to promote honesty and good governance.
Roco was married to
Sonia Cubillo Malasarte, who is from
Bohol. They have six children (Robbie Pierre, Raul Jr., Sophia, Sareena, Rex and Synara) and five grandchildren (Nica, Reece, Samantha, Shania and Beanie).
On
December 20,
2007, the National Bureau of Investigation investigated spouses Enrique Avanceña (grandson of President
Manuel Quezon), Sophia Roco, daughter of Raul Roco, over
credit card and Internet
fraud based on complaint of Theresa Gonzales, of Information Gateway. Cynthia Rehberg, fraud investigator for Expedia Inc. submitted the critical information.
Early life & education
Raúl Roco was born in
Naga City in the
Philippine province of
Camarines Sur, the son of farmer Sulpicio Azuela Roco and public school teacher Rosario Orlanda Sagarbarria.
Roco finished elementary school at age 10 from Naga Parochial School, and high school at age 14 from
Ateneo de Naga. He graduated
magna cum laude from
San Beda College in
Manila with a degree in
English at the age of 18. Then, he was also the Editor-in-Chief of
The Bedan working with the likes of Rene Saguisag and Jaime Licauco. Later, Roco received a
Bachelor of Laws degree (also at San Beda College) and was the college's Abbott Awardee for Over-All Excellence. In the
United States, he studied Comparative Law as a University Fellow at the
University of Pennsylvania, while also enrolled at the
Wharton School for Multinational Studies.
He was the president of the National Union of Students of the Philippines in
1961 and was named one of the Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines in
1964. His wife Sonia was the Most Outstanding Student that same year.
As a result of his various other achievements, he'd been awarded seven
honorary doctorates.
Political/professional career
After he passed the bar in 1965, Roco lobbied for the holding of a
Constitutional Convention that aimed to amend the 1935 Philippine Constitution. He campaigned for a seat to represent his district in
Camarines Sur. He won and thus became convention's youngest
Bicolano delegate.
From 1983 to 1985, he served as president of the
Integrated Bar of the Philippines. While there, he was on the legal staff of the late Philippine Senator
Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, and he drafted the Study Now, Pay Later law.
Alongside his work in law, he's also served as a
film producer. In
1974, he was the executive producer of the late film director Lino Brocka's movie
Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang; this film won six
FAMAS awards that year, including best film.
Among all legislators of the Eighth Congress of the Philippines (which lasted from 1987-1992), he was adjudged by the Ford Foundation and the University of the Philippines Institute of Strategic and Development Studies as first in over-all performance.
As senator
Roco served as a senator from
1992 to
2001, making many contributions that led many to recognize him as an "outstanding senator". He wrote the law which reformed the nation's banking system; this earned him the title "Father of the Bangko Sentral". Some other laws that he wrote resulted in the liberalization of the banking industry and the strengthening of the thrift banks. In addition, he wrote the Intellectual Property Code and the Securities Regulation Code.
Roco has also made several contributions to education in the Philippines. He helped fund the teachers’ cooperatives as well as the increment mandated by the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers for retiring public school teachers. On the students’ side, he helped bring computers into Philippine universities, colleges, and public schools. In addition, he devised a plan for meal scholarships for poor students at the Philippine Normal University.
Roco wrote several bills targeted at protecting and prioritizing women in the Philippines. He wrote the Women in Nation Building Law, the Nursing Act, the Anti-Sexual Harassment Law, the Anti-Rape Law, and the Child and Family Courts Act. He also let women play major roles in the Department of Education’s literacy program. Out of thanks to his services for women, many women's groups named him an "Honorary Woman".
He also drafted a bill that abolished double taxation on Filipinos working abroad.
He was given the
Bantay Katarungan award by
Kilosbayan for playing an integral role in the senate impeachment trial of then-president
Joseph Estrada.
As Secretary of Education
Roco took over as education secretary of the Philippines in 2001, at a time when the Philippines hadn't only one of the ten most corrupt governments in the world (according to
Transparency International), but its Department of Education was also the fourth-most corrupt of its agencies (as named by the Asia Foundation - Social Weather Stations Survey of Enterprises on Public Sector Corruption). To combat this corruption, Roco imposed a department-wide transparency policy which also held employees accountable for the purchase of textbooks, which had been a major source of the department's corruption. This allowed the department to purchase textbooks for a much lower price, and after just eight months under Roco's leadership, the Department of Education gained a 73% public approval rating and became the most trusted government agency in the Philippines.
During his tenure in that position, Roco allowed free public education (through high school) as required by the Philippine Constitution. He also enacted a reform of basic education curriculum in order that children would focus their studies on reading, writing, arithmetic, science, and Makabayan. In addition, he made sure that teachers were paid promptly and ended the 3% "service fee" that the department had long been deducting from teachers' pay.
Candidacy for President
1998
Roco ran for president in the
1998 Philippine election. He lost to Vice-President
Joseph Estrada but had a remarkable showing in a field of eleven candidates despite being an independent candidate. His strong showing was attributed to the widespread support he received from young Filipinos who eventually formed his party, Aksyon Demokratiko, and its youth arm, Aksyon Kabataan. Party leaders then included Jaime Galvez Tan, Lorna Patajo-Kapunan and Darwin Mariano.
2004
Roco rode his success in the Department of Education into a run for the Philippine presidency. His candidacy was based on his ability to fight corruption and to display fair play, decency, and honor. His Aksyon Demokratiko party formed a coalition with Promdi and Reporma, the parties of 1998 presidential candidates
Lito Osmeña and
Renato de Villa, to form the
Alyansa ng Pag-asa (Alliance of Hope).
Despite having the support of Osmeña, who is one of the most influential and most powerful people among Cebuanos, Roco failed to get a huge chunk of votes in the island of
Cebu. A public relations blunder hit his campaign when he and his group toured the slums in
Cebu City (planned as an up-close-and-personal strategy to get closer to the voters) expecting thousands of people to come out and greet him. Despite the preparation, only a little over 130 people met him and the very next day, one of the local newspapers published a panoramic shot of Roco in the slums smiling to the camera and the people shown were very few and unenthusiastic. This image created an impression that Cebuanos were not willing to vote Roco for president and in the end, over 80% of Cebu's voters supported President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Roco was a front-runner in pre-election surveys and was considered a strong contender. However, during the campaign, he battled with
bone cancer, which developed after his bout with
prostate cancer in
1996. His illness forced him to leave the campaign trail for medical attention in the
United States. Doctors told him that his condition wasn't life-threatening and that he could continue his run for the presidency. He returned to the campaign trail, but concerns about his illness greatly diminished his support.
He
lost the election to the
incumbent,
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and finished fourth in a field of 5 candidates.
He was the President of Akyson Demokratiko until his death.
Death
On
5 August 2005, Raul Roco died of
cardiac arrest, brought about by prostate cancer, at St Luke's Medical Center in
Quezon City. He was buried on
August 11 in
Naga City,
Camarines Sur.
His widow, Sonia, was beaten for
Senator under the
Genuine Opposition (formerly United Opposition) umbrella in the
May 14, 2007 midterm elections and still representing the party he started, Aksyon Demokratiko, in the hopes of continuing the advocacies that her late husband had started.
Further Information
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