Francis Pangilinan

He believes in active citizenship, which is why his civic affairs involvement began even as a student in high school. He has had over 20 years of civic and public service experience. He entered mainstream politics in 1988 in the first free electoral exercise after the Marcos dictatorship. He was elected the youngest councilor of Quezon City from the 4th district.[15] During his stint as QC councilor, he saw the need to unite and develop young legislators committed to strong, principled leadership among young legislators. He thus founded and established the National Movement of Young Legislators (NMYL), where he became founding president. In 1992, he unsuccessfully ran in the congressional elections in Quezon City, losing to Feliciano Belmonte Jr.

The Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations (TAYO) Awards, established in 2002 to recognize young people's initiatives in public service and nation-building, was his brainchild.

He remained an active organizer of multi-sectoral groups fighting for the return of decency, competence, and accountability to national leadership.

Pangilinan was elected to the senate in 2001 and was re-elected six years thereafter. In 2002, he founded the Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations (TAYO) Awards with the National Youth Commission (NYC) Chairperson Bam Aquino. The TAYO Awards Foundation, Inc. is the country's only award-giving body that recognizes and supports youth organizations' outstanding contributions and efforts in making a difference in their communities.[16]

In his first term at the Senate, he championed the plight of the most vulnerable children and authored and shepherded the measure that would keep children in conflict with the law out of cells that detained mostly adult hardcore criminals. He recognized that the country's judicial system needs to be overhauled. He ensured that the salaries and benefits of judges and prosecutors were increased so that the best and the brightest lawyers would be drawn to public service.

He was first elected as Senate Majority Leader in 2004. On July 23, 2007, Jinggoy Estrada was voted Senate president pro tempore, while Pangilinan was the majority leader following the assumption of Manuel Villar to the chamber's leadership of the 14th Congress.[17]

Formed in 2008, Pangilinan created the Judicial Executive Legislative Advisory and Consultative Council, first proposed on the July 16–17, 2007 Manila Hotel Summit on extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances in the Philippines.[18]

When he chaired the Senate Committee on Agriculture in 2010, he was able to speak to farmers all over the country. He was inspired to start his own small farm, from which he learned this insight: the success of the country lies in the success of the poorest in Philippine society—our farmers and fishers, our food producers. In the same year, Pangilinan was also the principal author of RA 11511, Amending RA 10068 or known as the Organic Agriculture Act of 2010. This aims to further promote the development of organic agricultural practices in the country, as well as helping and protecting the indigenous organic farmers.[19]

After winning in the 2016 senatorial elections, Pangilinan continued his advocacy in agriculture. He was part of the minority bloc in the Senate together with Senators Franklin Drilon, Risa Hontiveros, Leila de Lima, and former Senators Bam Aquino and Antonio Trillanes.[20] His most recent law was RA 11321 or the Sagip Saka Act, which he principally authored and principally sponsored in the Senate.[21] Sagip Saka aims to increase farmers' income by empowering them and connecting them to the market. This advocacy aims to boost incomes for both fisherfolk and farmers through entrepreneurship by mandating government agencies to buy produce directly from them, eliminating middlemen that raise food prices.[22] The law was signed on April 17, 2019.[23] Pangilinan was also the principal author of RA 11478, which would increase the bed capacity of the Bicol Medical Center from five hundred (500) beds to one thousand (1,000) beds. This also included upgrading its service facilities and professional health care services and authorizing the increase of its medical workforce complement.[19]

In 2020, he authored the Republic Act No. 11524, Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act which seeks to create a trust fund for coconut farmers to be used for several purposes such as management, utilisation, and reconstitution for the purpose the Philippine Coconut Authority Board.[24] He had also co-authored laws pertaining to education, such as Republic Act No. 11476, the GMRC and Values Education Act, which institutionalized good manners and right conduct and values education in the K-12 curriculum, and Republic Act No. 11510, the Alternative Learning System Act, which institutionalises the alternative learning system in Basic Education for out-of-school children.

Most recently, he co-authored the COVID Vaccination Program Act of 2021 or Republic Act No. 11525, aiming to expedite the procurement and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines across the country.

Furthermore, Pangilinan supports various Senate Bills that are aligned with his advocacy on the welfare of the nation, these include Senate Bill No. 776 (Rural Employment Assistance Act), Senate Bill No. 1759 (Pandemic Protection Act), and the Reform Coalition (People Empowerment and an Active Citizenry).

In May 2014, Pangilinan was appointed as Presidential Assistant for Food Security and Agricultural Modernisation - a Cabinet-level position under the Office of the President of the Philippines - by President Benigno Aquino III.[5] As OPAFSAM head, he pushed for the creation of the coco levy trust fund for coconut farmers—in an attempt to correct the injustice started by former President Ferdinand Marcos and his cronies who collected taxes from the farmers purportedly to develop the industry. In September 2015, Pangilinan announced his resignation from the post to run for senator in 2016.[25][26]

Pangilinan won his third Senate term in 2016, placing 8th overall. He pursued the same advocacy on coco levy fund but after he and fellow opposition senators were removed from the Senate majority and subsequently lost the chairpersonship of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, he continued to defend the coco levy trust fund bill with new committee chairperson Sen. Cynthia Villar agreeing to let him finish work he has started. A member of the minority floor, Pangilinan has been a critic of the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, including the War on Drugs due to its "iron-fist" approach.[27]

In October 2016, he was appointed interim Liberal Party president, succeeding former Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya. His appointment became permanent in August 2017.

On October 7, 2021, a source from Vice President Leni Robredo, who officially announced her presidential campaign for the 2022 election that day, revealed that Robredo had selected Pangilinan as her running mate under the 1sambayan coalition. Pangilinan had initially chosen to seek reelection as senator.[28]