Senator Gregorio Ballesteros Honasan II

Biography

Senator Gregorio B. Honasan was born on March 14, 1948 in Baguio City to Colonel Romeo Honasan and Alice Ballesteros of Sorsogon. His elementary years were spent at San Beda College in Manila and the Dominican School in Taipei, Taiwan. He graduated with honors at Don Bosco High School in Mandaluyong and for the first two years of college, he took up Bachelor of Science with a degree of Economics at the University of the Philippines. He then went on to the Philippine Military Academy, where he attained the title of a “Class Baron,” the institution’s highest leadership award. In 1981, he took up a Masters Degree in Business Management at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) and finished the course with distinction.

As a solider, he saw action in Mindanao where he garnered several medals and commendations for bravery and dedication to duty including recognition as one of the Ten Most Outstanding Young Men given by the Philippine Jaycees. In 1986, he was one of the principal players of the EDSA revolution that ousted a dictator and was awarded the Philippine Government Medal by then president Corazon C. Aquino.

He became Senator in 1995, the first independent candidate in Philippine history to have won a seat in the Senate. He was re-elected in 2001 and again in 2007.

He is the principal sponsor of the Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999 and co-author of the Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.

Among his notable accomplishments in the 14th Congress are the enactments of seven bills he authored and sponsored. His four bills under the Committee on Public Order and Illegal Drugs which were all signed into law. These laws tackled a better Fire Code; stiffer penalties for illegal and unlawful possession and manufacture of firearms and explosives; professionalizing the Jail and Fire Personnel; and adjusting the promotion system of PNP personnel. For his Committee on Agrarian Reform, he shepherded the much-awaited CARP Extension with Reforms, or the CARPER Law, and in the Committee on Finance, he passed the Act Providing For A Three Thousand Pesos (P 3,000.00) Across-The-Board Increase In The Monthly Wage And Salary Rates Of Employees In The Public Sector And For Other Purposes. Under the Committee on National Defense, he passed the Philippine Disaster Risk Management Act of 2009, which was adopted and ratified by both houses awaiting signature of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

As of August 11, 2010, Senator Honasan is the Chairperson of the Senate Committees on Agrarian Reform, Public Order and Illegal Drugs, and Public Information and Mass Media. He likewise chairs four oversight committees, specifically the Congressional Oversight Committees on Agrarian Reform, Dangerous Drugs and the Optical Media Board, as well as the Joint Oversight Committee on the Human Security Act. He is Vice-Chairperson of the Senate Committees on National Defense and Security, Public Works and Rules, and a member of 18 major Senate committees and four oversight committees. Senator Honasan is a staunch advocate for the environment, social reforms, national security, good governance, education, youth and sports.

He is married to Jane Cabale Umali of Pagsanjan, Laguna. They have five children, Kim Francis, Kit Martin, Karel Paolo, Klarina Fatima and Klarisa Rosario and two grandchildren, Noa Stina and Liam Israel.

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