Raul Roco
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Raul Sagarbarria Roco (born October 26, 1941 in Naga City, Camarines Sur, Philippines) is a political figure in the Philippines. He is the standard-bearer of Aksyon Demokratiko, which he founded, for the 2004 Philippine national and local elections. He is a former senator and the former secretary of the Department of Education under the presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. He has a strong following among young voters in the Philippines.
Roco's parents are Sulpicio Azuela Roco, a farmer, and Rosario Orlanda Sagarbarria, a public school teacher. Roco is married to Sonia Cubillo Malasarte, who is from Bohol. They have six children (Robbie Pierre, Raul Jr., Sophia, Sareena, Rex and Synara) and four grandchildren.
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Education
Roco is a precocious learner. After finishing elementary school at age 10 and high school at age 14, he graduated summa cum laude from San Beda College in Manila with a degree in English at the age of 18. 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 earned a Master of Comparative Law degree 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.
As a result of his various other achievements, he has been awarded seven honorary doctorates.
Political/professional career
Roco attended the Constitutional Convention of 1971, where he was the convention's youngest-ever 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 has 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 2000, 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 had not 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) for the first time in Philippine history. He also enacted a reform of basic education curriculum reform 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 percent "service fee" that the department had long been deducting from teachers' pay.
Candidacy for President
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.
During his run for President, he battled bone cancer, which developed after his bout with prostate cancer in 1996. Doctors in the United States told him that his condition was not life-threatening and that he could continue his run for the presidency.
He lost the election to the incumbent, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, under whom he had served as Secretary of Education.
He has since become President of Akyson Demokratiko.
External links
- Official website (http://www.raulroco.com)
- Aksyon Demokratiko (http://www.raulroco.com/aksyonD/aksyonD.htm)
- Biography at the Senate of the Philippines website (http://www.senate.gov.ph/senators/former_senators/raul_roco.htm&e=8092)