Ferdinand “Bongbong” Romualdez Marcos, Jr. is a Senator of the 16th Congress of the Republic of the Philippines. He is presently Chairman of the Senate Committee on Local Government and the Senate Committee on Public Works; and Vice Chairman of the Committee on Civil Service and Government Reorganization, the Committee on Cooperatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations.

 

Track Record of Public Service

 

Sen. Bongbong Marcos has been in public service for 25 years.

 

He started at the young age of 23 when he won as Vice Governor of Ilocos Norte. After one term as Vice Governor, he ran and won for Governor in 1983. In 1992, he ran for Congress and won a seat in the Lower House, representing the Second District of Ilocos Norte.

 

In 1998, he made a comeback as Governor of Ilocos Norte and completed three terms. He returned to Congress in 2007 and was elected Deputy Minority Leader.

 

In 2010, he ran for the Senate and won, receiving over 13 million votes. He was Chairman of the Committee on Local Government and the Committee on Urban Planning, Housing and Resettlements during the 15th Congress.

 

Ilocos Norte

 

Under the leadership of then-Governor Bongbong Marcos, Ilocos Norte was transformed from a third class to a first class province.

 

Agricultural output grew exponentially. After stabilizing the price of rice, the local government under then-Governor Bongbong Marcos improved levels of rice production from 145,000 Metric Tons to almost 200,000 Metric Tons. Livestock production also grew, with swine production doubling from 5,000 Metric Tons to almost 10,000 Metric Tons. Today, Ilocos Norte boasts of a surplus in production of both rice and corn.

 

The province has also become a model for public health care, with all residents provided with health insurance. Improvements in infrastructure helped transform Ilocos Norte, especially the town of Laoag, into a major tourist destination.

 

The province is now also at the forefront of developments in energy. Aside from the fact that Ilocos Norte is one of the few provinces that can boast of 100% electrification in all of its Five Hundred Fifty-seven (557) barangays, it is also the first province to develop wind electricity. Bangui, Ilocos Norte is home to the first wind farm in Southeast Asia.

 

Congress

 

Believing in the importance not only of educating but also of empowering the youth, Bongbong Marcos authored the law creating the Philippine Youth Commission. He is also responsible for the mandate to adopt English as the principal language of instruction in the Philippine educational system, and as a tool for Filipino competitiveness in education.

 

Inspired by the improvements in tourism in Ilocos Norte, Bongbong Marcos has also initiated movements to use Philippine tourism as major strategy for economic development. Aware that marketing alone will not achieve this, he has pursued laws for the adoption of a comprehensive infrastructure modernization program as key to full economic development.

 

Recognizing the country’s territorial integrity, Bongbong Marcos was also responsible for the passage of the Philippine Baselines Act, which defines the boundaries of the national territory according to international law while retaining the country’s claims to lands under dispute with other nations.

 

Aware of the importance of human capital, Bongbong Marcos has also initiated laws for the upgrading of the Filipino overseas workers program, which was initiated by his father, the late President Ferdinand Marcos.

 

Sen. Bongbong Marcos is presently Chairman of the Committee of Public Works in the Senate. He is leading efforts for the relief and rehabilitation of areas and victims affected by Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), as well as investigations for government accountability in the application of relief and rehabilitation funds.

 

Education

 

In July 1978, Senator Marcos obtained an undergraduate degree (Special Diploma in Social Studies) from the University of Oxford in England. From 1979 to 1981, he did coursework in Business Administration at the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania, USA.

 

For his kinder and primary education, he went to Institucion Tereciana in Quezon City and La Salle Greenhills in Mandaluyong. For his secondary education, he went to Worth School in Sussex, England.

 

Family

 

“Bongbong”, as he is fondly called by family and friends, is the only son of the late President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos and Rep. Imelda Romualdez Marcos.

 

He has two sisters: Irene Marcos-Araneta and Imee R. Marcos, who is now Governor of Ilocos Norte.

 

He is married to lawyer Louise Cacho Araneta, with whom he has three sons: Ferdinand Alexander III, Joseph Simon and William Vincent.

 

Sen. Bongbong Marcos was born on September 13, 1957, in Manila.

 

Source: www.senate.gov.ph