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Franklin Drilon
Drilon in 2018
18th President of the Senate of the Philippines
In office July 22, 2013 – June 30, 2016
Preceded by	Jinggoy Estrada (acting)
Succeeded by	Aquilino Pimentel III
In office July 23, 2001 – July 24, 2006
Preceded by	Aquilino Pimentel Jr.
Succeeded by	Manny Villar
In office July 12, 2000 – November 13, 2000
Preceded by	Blas Ople
Succeeded by	Aquilino Pimentel Jr.
President pro tempore of the Senate of the Philippines
In office July 25, 2016 – February 27, 2017
Preceded by	Ralph Recto
Succeeded by	Ralph Recto
Senate Majority Leader
In office January 26, 1998 – July 12, 2000
Preceded by	Francisco Tatad
Succeeded by	Francisco Tatad
Senate Minority Leader
In office February 28, 2017 – June 30, 2022
Preceded by	Ralph Recto
Succeeded by	Koko Pimentel
Senator of the Philippines
In office June 30, 2010 – June 30, 2022
In office June 30, 1995 – June 30, 2007
Chair of the Philippine Senate Finance Committee
In office July 26, 2010 – July 22, 2013
Preceded by	Edgardo Angara
Succeeded by	Francis Escudero
25th Executive Secretary of the Philippines
In office July 15, 1991 – June 30, 1992
President	Corazon Aquino
Preceded by	Oscar Orbos
Succeeded by	Peter Garuccho
44th and 46th Secretary of Justice
In office July 1, 1992 – February 2, 1995
President	Fidel V. Ramos
Preceded by	Silvestre Bello III
Succeeded by	Demetrio G. Demetria
In office January 4, 1990 – July 14, 1991
President	Corazon Aquino
Preceded by	Sedfrey A. Ordoñez
Succeeded by	Silvestre Bello III
Secretary of Labor and Employment
In office January 5, 1987 – January 2, 1990
President	Corazon Aquino
Preceded by	Augusto A. Sanchez
Succeeded by	Dionisio C. dela Serna
Personal details
Born	Franklin Magtunao Drilon (1945-11-28) November 28, 1945 (age 79) Iloilo City, Iloilo, Philippines
Political party	Liberal (2003–present)
Other political affiliations	Independent (2000–2003) LAMMP (1998–2000) Lakas–NUCD (1995–1998) UNIDO (1987–1988)
Spouse(s)	Violeta Calvo (died) Mila Serrano-Genuino
Children	Eliza Drilon Patrick Drilon
Residence(s)	Iloilo City, Iloilo San Juan, Metro Manila
Alma mater	University of the Philippines Diliman (BA, LL.B.)
Occupation	Lawyer, Politician

Franklin Magtunao Drilon (Tagalog pronunciation: [dɾiˈlɔn]; born November 28, 1945) is a Filipino lawyer and former politician. He had the longest tenure in the Senate of the Philippines (tied with Lorenzo Tañada and Tito Sotto), having served four non-consecutive terms overall: from 1995 to 2007 and 2010 to 2022. He has served thrice as president of the Senate: in 2000, from 2001 to 2006, and from 2013 to 2016.

Having also served as Senate president pro tempore, Senate Majority Leader, and Senate Minority Leader, he is the only senator to have held all four of the Senate's major leadership positions. A member of the Liberal Party since 2003, he has previously led the party as president, chairman, and vice-chairman.

He also served as Secretary of Labor and Employment, Secretary of Justice, and Executive Secretary in the administration of President Corazon Aquino. He became Secretary of Justice again during the administration of President Fidel V. Ramos.

Drilon was born and raised in Iloilo City and studied law at the University of the Philippines. He placed third in the 1969 Bar Exams and worked as a private practice lawyer before joining the government.

Early life

Drilon was born on November 28, 1945, in Iloilo City, Iloilo and is the eldest son of Cesar Drilon Sr. and Primitiva Magtunao. He took his elementary education at the Baluarte Elementary School in Molo, Iloilo City, and graduated in 1957. He finished his secondary education at the U.P. - Iloilo College (now University of the Philippines High School in Iloilo) in 1961.

From the University of the Philippines Diliman (U.P.) where he received his Bachelor of Arts Political Science degree in 1965. At U.P., he was the associate editor of the student newspaper Philippine Collegian and served as councilor of the U.P. Student Council. Among his classmates were future politicians Miriam Defensor Santiago and Ronaldo Zamora. In 1969, he completed his Bachelor of Laws (LL.B) at the University of the Philippines College of Law in UP Diliman. He placed 3rd in the 1969 Philippine Bar Examinations with an 86.85% bar rating.

In the same year, he served as an associate lawyer of Sycip, Salazar, Luna, Manalo & Feliciano Law Offices (now SyCip, Salazar, Hernandez & Gatmaitan). He moved to Angara, Abello, Concepcion, Regala & Cruz Law Offices (ACCRALaw) in 1974, where he still serves as Senior Counsel. ACCRALaw elevated him to partner in 1975, co-managing partner in 1981 and managing partner in 1986.

Drilon was also a Bar Examiner on Labor and Social Legislation in the 1979 and 1984 bar examinations. He also became the vice-president and governor of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) and the vice-president, Board member and treasurer of the Personnel Management Association of the Philippines (PMAP).

Political career

Drilon served the government and public corporations through the following positions:

• Department of Justice
  • Secretary, (1990–1991; 1992–1995)
  • Chairman, Board of Pardons and Parole
  • Member, Judicial and Bar Council (JBC)
  • Member, National Unification Commission
  • Chairman, Presidential Committee on Human Rights (PCHR)
• Executive Secretary (1991–1992)
  • Chairman, Cabinet Cluster on Political & Security Matters (Cluster "E")
  • Member, National Security Council (NSC)
  • Vice-chairman, Committee on Privatization (COP)
• Member, Joint Legislative-Executive Foreign Debt Council
• Department of Labor and Employment
  • Secretary, (1987–1990)
  • Deputy Minister for Industrial Relations, Department of Labor and Employment (1986–1987)
  • Member, Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC)
  • Commissioner, Social Security Commission
  • Chairman, National Labor Relations Commission
  • Chairman, Philippine Overseas Employment Administration
  • Chairman, Overseas Workers Welfare Administration
  • Chairman, Employee Compensation Commission
  • Trustee, Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund)
  • Board Member, National Housing Authority
  • Chairman, National Manpower and Youth Council
  • Chairman, National Wages Council
  • Chairman, National Maritime Polytechnic
  • Vice-chairman, Public Sector Labor-Management Council
  • Chairman, Philippine National Bank (PNB)
  • Director, Philippine Air Lines (PAL)
  • Director, Land Bank of the Philippines
  • Board Member, Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation
  • Board Member, Population Commission
  • Cabinet Officer for Regional Development (CORD) of Region VI

Cory Aquino cabinet

As Justice Secretary, Drilon was instrumental in the prosecution and conviction of Mayor Antonio Sanchez of Calauan, Laguna, who masterminded the rape-slaying of a UP Los Baños coed and the murder of his friend; and Claudio Teehankee Jr., who was figured in the gun slaying of Maureen Hultman. Both cases ended up in convictions.

Senate

In 1992, most of the Aquino cabinet were drafted for the Senate candidate line-up of the newly created party, Lakas Tao; Drilon opted to help President Aquino finish her term. He was again given the opportunity to run as a senatorial candidate of the Lakas–Laban coalition in the 1995 election. He got the fourth highest number of votes in that Senate race. In 1998, he bolted Lakas and joined the Laban ng Makabayang Masang Pilipino (LAMMP) and supported Joseph Estrada in the presidency contest. He was selected as Senate Majority Floor Leader the same year. In 1999, he was among those who voted in favor of the ratification of the Visiting Forces Agreement.

When Marcelo Fernan died of cancer the same year, he made concessions with Blas Ople in sharing the seat of the Senate President. They agreed that Ople will serve as Senate President from 1999 to 2000 and he would serve from 2000 to 2001. Ople served his term from July 1999-July 2000. Drilon was installed as Senate President in July 2000. In October 2000 he issued a statement about the Juetengate Scandal of President Joseph Estrada. He was removed the next month through a Senate revamp and Aquilino Pimentel Jr. was installed as Senate President (Drilon would also be succeeded by his son Aquilino Pimentel III as Senate President in 2016). In December 2000, an impeachment case was filed against President Estrada in the Senate. During the January 13, 2001, session of the impeachment proceedings, he was one of those who voted in favor of the opening of a mysterious second bank envelope. Their vote was outnumbered and Drilon was remembered as the Senator who cried in front of Senate President Pimentel together with Senator Loren Legarda, as impeachment lawyers walked out of the session hall in protest. Joseph Estrada was subsequently ousted that very evening by what would be remembered as the second EDSA People Power Revolution. Drilon allowed Pimentel to occupy the Senate presidency until the end of the regular session in June 2001.

When the session resumed in July 2001, Pimentel was replaced by Drilon as Senate President. Pimentel bolted the administration coalition and joined forces with the opposition coalition. In 2003, administration coalition partner Liberal Party, to which President Arroyo's father, Diosdado Macapagal, served as chairman in the 1960s, invited Drilon to be its member. Days later, Drilon was elected chairman of the political party. Before the 2004 elections, Drilon invited Senator Rodolfo Biazon to be a party member. Biazon bolted Raul Roco's Aksyon Demokratiko (AD) only days after he joined that party's convention to become the Liberal Party's new member.

Drilon had close contacts with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo since 2001 and actively supported her when she ran for a fresh mandate to occupy the office of the President. That relationship ended on July 8, however, when Drilon---together with Biazon and some prominent members of the Liberal Party---decided to withdraw their support for her and asked for her resignation. In Arroyo's 2005 State of the Nation Address, Drilon was the only one noticed not applauding throughout the entire program. Drilon has been a vocal critic of the NorthRail project, a Chinese government-backed project to overhaul Manila's decrepit railway system. The railway was to be the first double-tracked railway in the country, and was expected to eventually extend to Clark in Pampanga and, according to the architects, as far north as San Fernando, La Union. During his second term as Senate President, Drilon spearheaded the Senate's confronting the excesses of the executive branch by authorizing the Senate standing committees to conduct inquiries in aid of legislation; he led the Chamber in opposing Executive Order No. 264, which prohibited members of the Cabinet from attending hearings of Congress, the Senate in particular, without permission from the President; he also opposed Proclamation No. 1017, which imposed a state of national emergency in the country. The Supreme Court sustained the Senate's stand on the two issues. He was hailed by all as the leading defender of the Senate's independence and of its constitutional duties. Drilon likewise led the Senate in opposing moves by the House of Representatives to amend the Constitution that would supposedly shift the legislature to a unicameral legislature, abolishing the Senate. In 2006, Drilon was succeeded as Senate President by Senator Manny Villar in accordance with a term-sharing agreement they forged in early 2004.

Drilon ran again for the Senate as independent but was under the People Power Coalition senatorial line-up. The lineup was carefully chosen and the first letter of the candidate's surname (except for Roberto Pagdanganan) ended up with the line VOT FOR D CHAMMP. The line became a hit, and it led to the election of most of the coalition's senatorial candidates including Drilon. He again served as Senate President from 2001 to 2006. And from 2006 to the end of his second term as Senator on 2007, Drilon served as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance and worked firmly for the enactment of the new national budget law on 2007.

Drilon was re-elected to the Philippine Senate in 2010 and was then honored for his 15-year service to the senate (1995–2010). He served as the Assistant Majority Leader and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance and led the Senate in enacting the national budget laws on time for 2011, 2012 and 2013. He likewise primarily authored a law that created an oversight body of all government owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) which would check them from incurring financial excesses and as well as ensuring their financial stability and makes them fiscally responsible. On 2012, after Senator Ralph Recto stepped down as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, Drilon as its vice-chairman took over as its new chairman and worked firmly for the enactment of the Sin Tax Law that would impose higher taxes on the cigarettes and liquors. Drilon proudly called it as "anti-cancer law" for he firmly believes that the law would discourage the people from taking cigarettes so that they will not suffer lung cancer.

During the impeachment trial of then Chief Justice Renato Corona in early 2012, he acted as one of the Senator-Judges and later voted for his conviction and removal from office and disqualification from holding any elective or appointive government office.

Halfway through the Presidency of Benigno Aquino III, Drilon won the majority of votes after being voted as Senate President, following the resignation of former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile. It was predicted long after the resignation of Enrile, that Drilon would have the majority. Enrile was subsequently elected as Minority Leader but was then imprisoned.

Drilon is the acknowledged father of corporate lawyers in the Philippines, having sponsored and wrote the Revised Corporation Code in 2018.

Personal life

Drilon was married to fellow lawyer and ACCRA senior partner Violeta Calvo, with whom he had two children, Eliza and Patrick. During his candidacy for a Senate seat in 1995, Drilon often traveled to the US to be with his wife who was then being treated for lung cancer. Mrs. Drilon died of the disease in September 1995, two months after her husband assumed his Senate seat. Two years after, Drilon proposed to close family friend Mila Serrano-Genuino, who was a widow. They married with former Presidents Aquino and Ramos as wedding sponsors.

Drilon has a nephew named Rock who is married to ABS-CBN Broadcast Journalist Cecilia Victoria Oreña, also known as Ces Drilon. Drilon is also a second cousin of former Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog.

Drilon is a member of the Rotary Club, Makati Chapter. He was an active member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) where he was a former President of the Pasay–Makati–Mandaluyong–San Juan Chapter. Although he was born in Iloilo, he is a registered voter of Greenhills, San Juan.

Central Philippine University bestowed upon him an honorary degree of Doctor of Humanities (Honoris Causa).

References

1. "Biography of Senate President Ople - Senate of the Philippines". Archived from the original on March 17, 2008. Retrieved April 27, 2008.
2. Ramos, Christia Marie (June 30, 2021). "Drilon plans to retire from politics in 2022". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on June 30, 2021. Retrieved June 30, 2022.
3. "2001-2004 : BAR TOPNOTCHERS - CHAN ROBLES VIRTUAL LAW LIBRARY". www.chanrobles.com.
4. "SyCipLaw Home". www.syciplaw.com.
5. "Home – ACCRALAW". ACCRALAW.
6. "Bicam approves Corporation Code amendments amidst PH drop in Doing Business rank". November 27, 2018.

External links

• Senator Franklin M. Drilon – Senate of the Philippines

v t e Presidents of the Senate of the Philippines
Quezon Roxas Avelino Cuenco Paredes Osías Rodriguez Osías Zulueta Rodriguez Marcos Tolentino Puyat Salonga Gonzales Angara Gonzales Maceda Gonzales Fernan Ople Drilon Pimentel Jr. Drilon Villar Ponce Enrile Drilon Pimentel III Sotto III Zubiri Escudero

Senatorial history of Franklin Drilon

v t e 9th ← Senators of the 10th Congress of the Philippines (1995–1998) → 11th Senate President Neptali Gonzales (1995–1996, 1998) Ernesto Maceda (1996–1998) Senior Senators (1992–1998) Junior Senators (1995–2001) Heherson Alvarez Edgardo Angara Neptali Gonzales Ernesto Herrera Ernesto Maceda Orlando Mercado Blas Ople Ramon Revilla Sr. Alberto Romulo Leticia Ramos-Shahani Tito Sotto Freddie Webb Nikki Coseteng Franklin Drilon Juan Ponce Enrile Marcelo Fernan Juan Flavier Gregorio Honasan Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Ramon Magsaysay Jr. Sergio Osmeña III Raul Roco Miriam Defensor Santiago Francisco Tatad Term ended June 30, 1998 Term ended June 30, 2001 — Position vacated when Fernan died in 1999. v t e 10th ← Senators of the 11th Congress of the Philippines (1998-2001) → 12th Senate President Marcelo Fernan (1998-1999) Blas Ople (1999-2000) Franklin Drilon (2000) Aquilino Pimentel Jr. (2000-2001) Senior Senators (1995-2001) Junior Senators (1998-2004) Nikki Coseteng Franklin Drilon Juan Ponce Enrile Marcelo Fernan Gregorio Honasan Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Ramon Magsaysay Jr. Sergio Osmeña III Raul Roco Miriam Defensor Santiago Francisco Tatad Tessie Aquino-Oreta Robert Barbers Rodolfo Biazon Rene Cayetano Teofisto Guingona Jr. Robert Jaworski Loren Legarda Blas Ople John Henry Osmeña Aquilino Pimentel Jr. Ramon Revilla Sr. Tito Sotto Term ended June 30, 2001 Term ended June 30, 2004 — Position vacated when Fernan died in 1999. — Position vacated when Cayetano died in 2003. — Position vacated when Arroyo was elected to vice presidency in 1998. — The appointment of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to Guingona to vice presidency made his position to the Senate vacant from January 20, 2001. On May 14, 2001, Honasan was elected to fill in Guingona's unfinished term until 2004. — Ople was appointed Foreign Affairs secretary in 2002. v t e 11th ←Senators of the 12th Congress of the Philippines (2001–2004) → 13th Senate President Franklin Drilon (2001–2004) Senior Senators (1998–2004) Junior Senators (2001–2007) Tessie Aquino-Oreta Robert Barbers Rodolfo Biazon Teofisto Guingona Jr. Gregorio Honasan Robert Jaworski Loren Legarda John Henry Osmeña Aquilino Pimentel Jr. Ramon Revilla Sr. Tito Sotto Edgardo Angara Joker Arroyo Franklin Drilon Loi Ejercito Noli de Castro Juan Flavier Panfilo Lacson Ramon Magsaysay Jr. Serge Osmeña Francis Pangilinan Ralph Recto Manny Villar Term ended June 30, 2004 Term ended June 30, 2007 — Drilon's Senate presidency continued until 2006 during the 13th Congress. — Position vacated when Cayetano died in 2003. — The appointment of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to Guingona to vice presidency made his position to the Senate vacant from January 20, 2001. On May 14, 2001, Honasan was elected to fill in Guingona's unfinished term until 2004. — Ople was appointed Foreign Affairs secretary in 2002. — In 2004, de Castro vacated his position when he was elected to the vice presidency. v t e 12th ← Senators of the 13th Congress of the Philippines (2004–2007) → 14th Senate President Manny Villar (2006–2007) Franklin Drilon (2004–2006) Senior Senators (2001–2007) Junior Senators (2004–2010) Edgardo Angara Joker Arroyo Franklin Drilon Loi Ejercito Juan Flavier Panfilo Lacson Ramon Magsaysay Jr. Serge Osmeña Francis Pangilinan Ralph Recto Manny Villar Rodolfo Biazon Pia Cayetano Juan Ponce Enrile Jinggoy Estrada Dick Gordon Lito Lapid Alfredo Lim Jamby Madrigal Aquilino Pimentel Jr. Mar Roxas Bong Revilla Miriam Defensor Santiago Term ended June 30, 2007 Term ended June 30, 2010 — Villar became the next Senate president during the 14th Congress. — Position vacated when Noli de Castro was elected to the vice presidency. — In 2007, Lim vacated his position prior to his election as the mayor of Manila. v t e 14th ← Senators of the 15th Congress of the Philippines (2010–2013) → 16th Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile (2010–2013) Jinggoy Estrada (2013) Senior Senators (2007–2013) Junior Senators (2010–2016) Edgardo Angara Joker Arroyo Alan Peter Cayetano Francis Escudero Gregorio Honasan Panfilo Lacson Loren Legarda Francis Pangilinan Koko Pimentel Antonio Trillanes Manny Villar Pia Cayetano Franklin Drilon Juan Ponce Enrile Jinggoy Estrada TG Guingona Lito Lapid Bongbong Marcos Serge Osmeña Ralph Recto Bong Revilla Miriam Defensor Santiago Tito Sotto Term ended June 30, 2013 Term ended June 30, 2016 — Ponce Enrile was also the Senate president of the 14th Congress. —Estrada is in acting capacity after Ponce Enrile takes his resignation. —Zubiri resigned from office on August 3, 2011, replaced by Pimentel afterwards. — Vacant due to election of Benigno Aquino III to the presidency. v t e 15th ← Senators of the 16th Congress of the Philippines (2013–2016) → 17th Senate President Franklin Drilon Senior Senators (2010–2016) Junior Senators (2013–2019) Pia Cayetano Franklin Drilon Juan Ponce Enrile Jinggoy Estrada TG Guingona Lito Lapid Bongbong Marcos Serge Osmeña Ralph Recto Bong Revilla Miriam Defensor Santiago Tito Sotto Sonny Angara Bam Aquino Nancy Binay Alan Peter Cayetano JV Ejercito Francis Escudero Gregorio Honasan Loren Legarda Koko Pimentel Grace Poe Antonio Trillanes Cynthia Villar Term ended June 30, 2016 Term ends June 30, 2019 v t e 16th ← Senators of the 17th Congress of the Philippines (2016–2019) → 18th Senate President Koko Pimentel (2016–2018) Tito Sotto (2018–present) Senior Senators (2013–2019) Junior Senators (2016–2022) Sonny Angara Bam Aquino Nancy Binay JV Ejercito Francis Escudero Gregorio Honasan Loren Legarda Koko Pimentel Grace Poe Antonio Trillanes Cynthia Villar Leila de Lima Franklin Drilon Win Gatchalian Dick Gordon Risa Hontiveros Panfilo Lacson Manny Pacquiao Francis Pangilinan Ralph Recto Tito Sotto Joel Villanueva Migz Zubiri Term ended June 30, 2019 Term ended June 30, 2022 — Alan Peter Cayetano was appointed Foreign Affairs secretary in 2017. v t e 17th ← Senators of the 18th Congress of the Philippines (2019–2022) → 19th Senate President Tito Sotto (2018–2022) Senior Senators (2016–2022) Junior Senators (2019–2025) Leila de Lima Franklin Drilon Win Gatchalian Dick Gordon Risa Hontiveros Panfilo Lacson Manny Pacquiao Francis Pangilinan Ralph Recto Tito Sotto Joel Villanueva Migz Zubiri Sonny Angara Nancy Binay Pia Cayetano Ronald dela Rosa Bong Go Lito Lapid Imee Marcos Koko Pimentel Grace Poe Bong Revilla Francis Tolentino Cynthia Villar Term ended June 30, 2022 Term ends June 30, 2025

• 1945 births
• Living people
• Visayan people
• Hiligaynon people
• People from Iloilo City
• Secretaries of justice of the Philippines
• Presidents of the Senate of the Philippines
• Majority leaders of the Senate of the Philippines
• Senators of the 18th Congress of the Philippines
• Senators of the 17th Congress of the Philippines
• Senators of the 16th Congress of the Philippines
• Senators of the 15th Congress of the Philippines
• Senators of the 13th Congress of the Philippines
• Senators of the 12th Congress of the Philippines
• Senators of the 11th Congress of the Philippines
• Senators of the 10th Congress of the Philippines
• 20th-century Filipino lawyers
• Secretaries of labor and employment of the Philippines
• Executive secretaries of the Philippines
• University of the Philippines alumni
• Lakas–CMD (1991) politicians
• Liberal Party (Philippines) politicians
• People from San Juan, Metro Manila
• Independent politicians in the Philippines
• Ramos administration cabinet members
• Corazon Aquino administration cabinet members
• Presidents pro tempore of the Senate of the Philippines
• Filipino Roman Catholics
• Minority leaders of the Senate of the Philippines
• Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Merit (Philippines)