Cong. Angara to speak at VSU’s 88th Foundation Day

The Honorable Congressman of the Lone District of Aurora, Atty. Juan Edgardo "Sonny" M. Angara, will be the anniversary convocation speaker of the Visayas State University on the occasion of its 88th Founding Anniversary on August 11, 2012 at the VSU Gymnatorium. The young congressman will be expounding his message based on the theme "Changing Lives Through Science and Technology."

Congressman Angara who is now on his third and last term as member of the Philippine House of Representatives is the chairman of the House Committee on Higher and Technical Education and occupies a seat as member of the VSU Board of Regents.

A graduate of Master of Laws from the Harvard Law School of Harvard University in Cambridge Massachusetts, USA in 2003, he entered politics in 2004 at the age of 32 and was one of the youngest members of Congress that term. He was re-elected to a second term in 2007, and a third term in 2010.

The second child of Senator Edgardo J. Angara and history teacher Gloria Manalang, Cong. Angara finished his Bachelor of Science in Economics (International Relations) as Second Class Honors, Upper Division at the London School of Economics and Political Science in London, England in 1994. He went home to the Philippines and took his Bachelor of Laws at the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Law from 1995 to 2000.

Because of his outstanding performance and achievements as a legislator, he was awarded by the Philippine Jaycees as one of the 2010 Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM), a historic and prestigious award for young Filipinos under 40 years old.

Cong. Angara is proud of having authored many bills and laws in the areas of education, good government, health, tourism, the environment, women and children's rights, and tax and economic reforms. Among these are: RA 9490 or the Aurora Special Economic Zone Act which promotes the industrial, economic and social development of Aurora and the Northeastern provinces of the country; RA 9500 or the University of the Philippines Charter of 2008 which strengthens UP as the premier university in the country by enhancing its institutional autonomy and academic freedom; RA 9505 or the Personal Equity and Retirement Account (PERA) Act of 2008 which is the country's version of 401k retirement plan in the US and encourages savings mobilization, promotes capital market development, and generates investments; and RA 9710 or the Magna Carta of Women which addresses the needs and sectoral concerns of women, especially those in the marginalized sector.

He is also one of the authors of RA 10157 or the Kindergarten Education Act which has just been signed recently into law that mandates the inclusion of pre-school education in the basic education system of the country; RA 9593 or the Tourism Act which declares a national policy on tourism as an engine of investment, employment, growth and national development; and JR 04 or Resolution Urging the President to Modify the Compensation and Position Classification System in the Government or the Salary Standardization Law III which increased salaries of public school teachers, policemen, and other government employees. Cong. Angara also filed more than 200 bills pending in Congress.

As chairman of House Committee on Higher and Technical Education, Angara hopes to institute reforms to make education accessible to more Filipinos, as well as improve the quality of the educational system.

He also serves as Law Professor and member of the faculty of two universities in Metro Manila—the New Era University and the Centro Escolar University.

Cong. Angara is happily married to Elvira with whom he has two children—Manolo and Ines.

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