Famous Politicians from The Philippines
List of the most popular, renowned or famous politicians from the Philippines. List includes the most notable politicians from the Philippines, along with photos when available. This list of Filipino politicians is alphabetical, but can be sorted by any column and answers the question "what famous politicians are from the Philippines?" You can click on the names of the famous politicians of Philippines in order to get more information about each one. This list has a variety of politicians, like Florencio Miraflores and Eulogio Balao, in it. You may copy this factual list to build your own just like it, re-rank it to fit your views, then publish it to share it on Facebook, Twitter or any other social networks you use on a regular basis. {#nodes}
Abdulgani A. Salapuddin
Age: 72Abdulghani "Gerry" A. Salapuddin is a Filipino politician and former three-term congressman (1998–2007). He also served as governor of Basilan (1988–98) and was at least partly responsible for much of the progress made in Basilan in the 1990s.- Dec. at 73 (1925-1999)Abdulwahid A. Bidin (7 April 1925 – 2 February 1999) is a Filipino lawyer who was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. Appointed by President Corazon Aquino in 1987, he was the first Filipino Muslim named to the country's High Bench.
Abdusakur Mahail Tan
Age: 73Abdusakur "Sakur" Mahail Tan (born Maimbung, July 13, 1950) is a Filipino politician and former governor of Sulu Province (2007–2013) in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. He currently serves as the Vice Governor of Sulu.Abraham Sarmiento
Dec. at 88 (1921-2010)Abraham F. Sarmiento Sr. (October 8, 1921 – October 3, 2010) was a Filipino jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from 1987 to 1991. An active figure in the political opposition against the martial law government of President Ferdinand Marcos, he was appointed to the Court by Marcos' successor, President Corazon Aquino.- Age: 85Adolfo Sevilla Azcuna (born February 16, 1939) is a Filipino jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from 2002 to 2009. He was appointed to the Court by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on October 24, 2002. He is the current Chancellor of the Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA), having been appointed to that position by the Supreme Court of the Philippines on June 1, 2009.
- Age: 84Agapito "Butz" Aquino Aquino (May 20, 1939 – August 17, 2015) was a Senator of the Philippines and congressman from Makati City. He was born to former senator Benigno S. Aquino Sr., and Aurora Aquino-Aquino. He was the brother of former senators Benigno S. Aquino Jr. and Tessie Aquino-Oreta, as well as the uncle of President Benigno S. Aquino III as well as Paolo Benigno "Bam" Aquino IV.
- Dec. at 72 (1911-1984)Alejo Santos Santos (born Alejo de los Santos de los Santos; July 17, 1911Note 1 – February 18, 1984) was a Filipino soldier and World War II hero who parlayed his fame into a political career. His prestige was somewhat marred in later life when he agreed to run as the only major candidate opposing Ferdinand Marcos in the widely suspect 1981 Philippine presidential election.
Alexander B. Yano
Alexander Badong Yano was the 38th Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the highest position in the AFP hierarchy. His Vice Chief of Staff was Lt. Gen. Cardozo M. Luna and his Deputy Chief of Staff was Lt. Gen. Rodrigo F. Maclang. Alexander Yano also served as the commander of the Philippine Army and Southern Luzon Command. He is also the first general born from Mindanao- Age: 85Alfredo Logronio Benipayo (born December 10, 1938) is the former Dean of the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Civil Law, the oldest law school in the Philippines. He is a former magistrate and a respected law professor and bar reviewer in the country.
- Age: 83Ma. Alicia Austria-Martinez (born Ma. Alicia Austria, December 19, 1940, Manila) is a Filipino jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from 2002 to 2009. She was appointed to the Court by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on April 12, 2002.
- Age: 72Alvaro Trinidad Antonio, also known by his nickname Bong or Ambong, (born February 19, 1952) is a Filipino politician, who was the Governor of Cagayan from 2007 to 2016. He is a former pro-bono lawyer at the Citizen's Legal Action Office (now known as Public Assistance Office or PAO) and a former mayor of Alcala. Education With an aptitude for classical studies, Antonio spent his high school years at San Jacinto Seminary, where he graduated in 1968. He thereafter went to the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas in Manila, to pursue his college studies. Governor Antonio completed his baccalaureate in philosophy, with honors, in 1972. Suprema Lex Fraternity Realizing his calling to serve the people, Antonio proceeded to take up law, also at UST. While finishing his law degree, Antonio became acquainted with a group of young, idealistic law students. The group called themselves the Suprema Lex Fraternity. As a young legal scholar, Antonio was mesmerized by the group's close brotherly bond, and their ideal of promoting the general welfare, through activism, legal assistance, private enterprise, and law practice. Suprema Lex Fraternity's fundamental belief that "The welfare of the People is the Supreme Law", echoed through the consciousness of the young Antonio. This principle would later on inspire Antonio to serve as a pro bono lawyer. Thence, he later on joined the fraternity, and contributed to the fulfillment of the fraternity's ideals, as one of its most successful members. Career Shunning better-paying offers, Antonio started his career as a pro bono lawyer at the Citizen's Legal Action Office (later on Public Attorney's Office). His resolve to assist the less fortunate through his legal service, is one which reechoes his belief that 'those who have less in life must have more in law!' After his dedicated stint as a pro bono Lawyer, Antonio heeded the people's cry that he serve them as their local chief executive. He thus ran and won as mayor of his hometown, namely Alcala Town, in Cagayan Province. Antonio's popularity grew, as he became an outstanding mayor dedicated to uplifting the lives of his constituents. Thus in 2007, he was elected as Governor of Cagayan Province, with the support of then Congressman Manuel Mamba and Senator Enrile. Congressman Mamba broke away with the alliance because of allegations of corruption and jueteng against Antonio. Antonio went on to win two more terms. He took a leave after 3 terms and then lost in 2019 to incumbent Governor Mamba landing only in 3rd place.
- Dec. at 85 (1910-1996)Ambrosio Bibby Padilla (December 7, 1910 – August 11, 1996) was a Filipino basketball player and an elected member of the Senate of the Philippines. He was one of the most important figures in Asian basketball development.
- Age: 96Amelita "Ming" Jara Martinez-Ramos (born December 29, 1927) is the wife of Fidel V. Ramos–the twelfth President of the Philippines–and was the eleventh First Lady of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998.
Ameurfina Melencio-Herrera
Age: 102Ameurfina Aguinaldo Melencio-Herrera (born 11 May 1922) served as an Associate Justice of the Philippine Supreme Court from 1979-92. She was the second woman appointed to the Supreme Court, filling the vacancy left by the retirement of the first female Supreme Court Justice, Cecilia Muñoz-Palma.- Dec. at 66 (1878-1945)Anacleto Díaz (November 20, 1878 – February 10, 1945) was a Filipino jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
- Dec. at 84 (1928-2013)Andres dela Rosa Narvasa (November 30, 1928 – October 31, 2013) was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from December 1, 1991 to November 30, 1998.He served as Chairman of the Preparatory Commission for Constitutional Reform, a special agency tasked to look into potentially positive modifications in the Philippine Constitution, from 1999 to 2000.
- Dec. at 65 (1940-2006)Brother Andrew Benjamin Gonzalez, F.S.C., (29 February 1940 – 29 January 2006) was a Filipino linguist, writer, educator, and a De La Salle Brother. He served as president of De La Salle University from 1979 to 1991 and from 1994 to 1998. From 1998 to 2001 he served as Secretary of the Department of Education, Culture and Sports under the presidency of Joseph Estrada. After his term ended, he returned to De La Salle University as Vice President for Academics and Research from 2001 to 2003 and as Presidential Adviser for Academics and Research from 2003 to 2005. He earned his Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of California, Berkeley.
- Age: 86Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez (born February 28, 1938) is a Filipino jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from 2000 to 2008. She was the last appointment to the Court made by President Joseph Estrada.
Angelito Gatlabayan
Age: 71Angelito Cabaron Gatlabayan (born July 3, 1952) is a Filipino politician. He was the first City Mayor of Antipolo following its transition to cityhood, serving from 1998 to 2007. He was a member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, representing the 2nd District of Antipolo City during the 14th Congress, from 2007 to 2010. An Antipoleño native, he was born and raised in the city to parents former Vice Mayor Maximo Leyva Gatlabayan and Catalina Legado Cabaron. Before his stint as the City Mayor of Antipolo for (9) consecutive years, he worked and held top positions in various multinational companies such as Handyware Philippines, Macstrat Incorporated, N.P Foods Company, Nagai Package Company, Philippine Cellophane Film Corporation and Union Ajinomoto Philippines.At the dawn of Antipolo's transition into cityhood he was then elected as its first local chief executive on May 15, 1998 and was then re-elected to a second term via landslide victory by more than 42,000 votes last May 5, 2001. Mayor Gatlabayan guided the second largest municipality in Rizal Province, exercising authority over Antipolo City's ₱800 million budget and representing its 500,000 residents. Under his leadership, Antipolo City experienced an all-time high in tax revenues, the lowest unemployment rate in decades, a substantial improvement in healthcare services and a progressive and comprehensive relocation and housing program for the needy. He was able to put the city's economic resources at a high point.His administration had focused on restoring ethics to the local government and elevating quality of life in the community, while utilizing fiscally sensible strategies and policies in reducing crime, corruption and illiteracy - likewise, he has been streamlining and making government services more efficient and accessible for his constituents.Since he was elected, Mayor ACG has combined a substantial legislative record. The first initiative of his administration was the comprehensive crime fighting measures, where crime rate level is at its lowest in the last 20 years. The highly successful clean and green program, where streets are cleaned constantly, canals and streams are dredge periodically and tree planting for an eco-friendly environment. This program earned the city the Gawad Sa Pangulo Sa Kapaligiran Award (1st Place for the Cleanest and Greenest City in Region IV and 2nd Place at the National Level).Troubled by the worsening illiteracy condition of youth and adults in the city, he unveiled his most ambitious undertaking in his last five years, this initiative called for championing the rights of the children. Thus in 1999, the literacy program was conceived. It details long range plans to better prepare less privilege children for school. It motivates out-of-school youths and adults to pursue and education or skill. It facilitates the re-education of Dumagats ethnic group. It provides teaching facilities, faculty members, books, notebooks and classrooms in all 16 barangays. A remarkable feat worth mentioning is that the young mayor was able to establish 14 public high schools in different barangays in just 1 year. Economic development is another priority for him, in alleviating the poor sectors of the city, His most important triumph for the economic revitalization of Antipolo was the revolutionary way of increasing revenues from a ₱140 million mark to ₱600 million in his first term alone. This paved way for building modern infrastructures, systematized water system, facilitating lightning fixtures throughout the city. At year 2007, He ended his post as the city Mayor and then was elected once again via landslide victory as the 2nd District Representative of Antipolo City. He was a member of eleven (11) standing committees back at the Congress, which includes the Committee on Appropriation which passed the 2008 General Appropriations Act or the 2008 National Budget.Aniano A. Desierto
Age: 89Aniano Aguilar Desierto (born April 25, 1935) is a former Ombudsman of the Republic of the Philippines from 1995-2002. He headed the Ombudsman Office which investigates all government officials who defy the law of conduct. He assumed the Office of the Philippine Ombudsman on August 4, 1995 as the second person to head the post.- Age: 74Antonio Tirol Carpio (born October 26, 1949) is an incumbent Senior Associate Justice and, for four instances, acting Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He was sworn in as member of the High Court by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on October 26, 2001.
- Age: 82Antonio Eduardo Bermejo Nachura (born June 13, 1941) is a former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. He took his oath of office as Associate Justice on February 7, 2007, and occupied the position until his mandatory retirement on June 13, 2011. Previously, Nachura had been Solicitor-General of the Philippines at the time his appointment to the Court was announced on January 31, 2007 by then-Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Antonio Lagdameo, Jr.
Age: 56Antonio Ernesto "Anton" Floirendo Lagdaméo Jr. (born January 22, 1968) is a Filipino politician and businessman who was a three-term congressman of the 2nd District of the Davao del Norte. He is married to actress Dawn Zulueta, and is a member of the wealthy Floirendo clan in Southern Mindanao. Lagdaméo is a grandson of "banana king" Antonio Floirendo Sr., one of Ferdinand Marcos' cronies, through the former's daughter Linda Floirendo-Lagdaméo.As a public servant, his main focus was on rural and agricultural development, social conservatism, education and lifelong learning, tourism and sustainable development.Antonio Leviste
Age: 84José Antonio "Tony" C. Leviste (born January 14, 1940) is a Filipino politician, who served as Governor of Batangas from 1972 to 1980. Born to a distinguished Batangueño family renowned in both business and politics, he was married to Senator Loren Legarda, separating from her before the 2004 election campaign. The be-medalled Asian Games equestrienne Toni Leviste is his daughter from a previous marriage. Leviste was sentenced to six years in prison for the murder of his long-time aide, Rafael de las Alas. Leviste served his sentence at the National Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa and on December 6, 2013, he was released after his parole was granted.- Age: 52Antonio Fuentes Trillanes IV (, born August 6, 1971), is a retired Navy officer currently serving as a Senator of the Philippines, and ardent critic against the Duterte administration. He was a vice presidential candidate in the 2016 Philippine presidential elections.
- Dec. at 65 (1880-1945)Antonio Villareal (January 17, 1880 — February 12, 1945) was a Filipino jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.
- Age: 60Aquilino Martin de la Llana Pimentel III (born January 20, 1964), commonly known as Koko Pimentel, is a Filipino politician and legislator who is currently serving as a Senator of the Philippines. He previously became the 28th Senate President of the Philippines from 2016 to 2018. He is also the current president of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP–Laban). As the eldest son and third child of the former Senate President Aquilino Pimentel, Jr., he is the first child of a previous Senate president to hold the post. He was sworn in on August 12, 2011 and proclaimed as the 12th winning senator in the 2007 election.
- Age: 52Armand dela Cruz Arreza (born November 20, 1971) was the 4th Administrator & Chief Executive Officer of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA). As of present, he was the youngest official to hold the title of Administrator.
Armando Sanchez
Dec. at 57 (1952-2010)Armando Sanchez (June 15, 1952 – April 27, 2010) was a Filipino politician. He is a former two-term mayor of Sto. Tomas, Batangas and one-term Governor of the Province of Batangas. During his term as Batangas Governor he was also the treasurer of the League of Provinces of the Philippines.- Age: 62Brother Armin Altamirano Luistro, FSC born December 24, 1961 in Lipa, Batangas, Philippines) is a Filipino Lasallian Brother who served as secretary of the Department of Education of the Philippines under President Benigno Aquino III. Luistro entered De La Salle Scholasticate (the center for academic training of De La Salle Brothers) in Manila on April 1979 while he was studying in De La Salle University (DLSU). He received the religious habit of the congregation on October 1981 at the La Salle Novitiate in Lipa. He professed his first religious vows on October 1982, and his final vows on May 1988.He started teaching as a religion teacher at De La Salle Lipa in 1983. He was made provincial of the De La Salle Brothers Philippine District on April 1997, a post he held until 2003. On August 26, 2000, Luistro co-founded the De La Salle Catholic University Manado, in Indonesia with Josef Suwatan, Roman Catholic Bishop of Manado.On April 2004, he succeeded Andrew Gonzalez as the president of De La Salle University System, consequently making him the president of eight De La Salle institutions. He worked into establishing De La Salle Philippines (DLSP) which replaced the system. The DLSP National Mission Council appointed him DLSP President and Chief Executive Officer on November 29, 2005.He was appointed as the Secretary of Education of the Philippines on June 30, 2010, becoming the second De La Salle brother to hold the post—the other was Gonzalez who was in office from 1998 to 2001. Luistro has the least net worth among Aquino's cabinet. He had ₱89,000 (US$2,060). In contrast, the richest—Cesar Purisima who is Secretary of Finance—had ₱252 million (US$5.84 million).The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) have expressed skepticism over Luistro's stand on sex education citing his religious background. Nevertheless, the Department of Education has included sex education in its curriculum for grade 5 to fourth year high school. Roman Catholic groups have criticized it for allegedly not covering the emotional, psychological and spiritual dimensions of sexuality.Luistro is a major proponent of the K+12 Basic Education Program in the Philippines. The program seeks to add two years to the current 10-year basic education curriculum. Numerous parties have opposed the plan including Ateneo de Manila University President Bienvenido Nebres and progressive groups of students, teachers and parents.
