Jovito Salonga | |
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14th President of the Senate of the Philippines | |
In office July 27, 1987 – January 1, 1992 |
|
President | Corazon Aquino |
Preceded by | Abolished (Title last held by Gil Puyat) |
Succeeded by | Neptali A. Gonzales, Sr. |
1st Chairman of the Presidential Commission on Good Government | |
In office February 28, 1986 – March 5, 1987 |
|
President | Corazon Aquino |
Succeeded by | Ramon A. Diaz |
Senator of the Philippines | |
In office June 30, 1987 – June 30, 1992 |
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In office December 30, 1965 – September 23, 1972 |
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Member of the Philippine House of Representatives from Rizal's 2nd District | |
In office December 30, 1961 – December 30, 1965 |
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Preceded by | Francisco S. Sumulong |
Succeeded by | Frisco F. San Juan |
Personal details | |
Born |
Jovito Reyes Salonga June 22, 1920 Pasig, Rizal, Philippine Islands |
Died | March 10, 2016 Quezon City, Philippines |
(aged 95)
Nationality | Filipino |
Political party | Liberal Party |
Spouse(s) | Lydia Busuego |
Alma mater | Yale University, Harvard University, University of the Philippines |
Profession | Politician |
Jovito "Jovy" Reyes Salonga (June 22, 1920 – March 10, 2016) was a Filipino statesman and lawyer, as well as a leading opposition leader during the regime of Ferdinand Marcos from the declaration of martial law in 1972 until the People Power Revolution in 1986, which removed Marcos from power. Salonga was the 14th President of the Senate of the Philippines serving from 1987 to 1992.
Jovito Salonga was born in poverty in Pasig on June 22, 1920. His father was a Presbyterian pastor, Esteban Salonga and his mother, Bernardita Reyes, was a market vendor. His parents married in 1904. Jovito Salonga, the youngest of five brothers, worked his way through college and law school as a proofreader in the publishing firm of his eldest brother, Isayas. During his senior year at the College of Law at the University of the Philippines (U.P.), he quit his job to prepare for the bar exam. Due to the advent of World War II, he postponed taking the Philippine Bar Examination until 1944, when he and Jose Diokno both topped with a grade point average of 95.3%.
A few months after the Japanese invasion in December 1941, Salonga went underground and engaged in anti-Japanese activities. In April 1942, he was captured and tortured by the Japanese Military Police in Pasig in the presence of his aging father. He was transferred to Fort Santiago and several other prisons where he was subjected to further persecution. On June 11, 1942, he was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor by the Japanese and incarcerated at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa, but was pardoned on the Foundation Day of Japan (Kigen Setsu) in 1943.