QUEZON City, Philippines (March 23) – One of our fundamental political rights in the Philippines as a democratic system is choosing the right leaders. Let’s get to know more about Antonio “Sonny” Fuentes Trillanes IV, one of the aspiring candidates who wants to be the next vice president of our country.
Antonio F. Trillanes IV or also known for “Sonny” to his relatives and friends, is a retired Navy officer. He is currently serving as a senator of the Philippines.
Trillanes was born and raised in Caloocan on August 6, 1971 and is married to Arlene Orejana Trillanes, one of the seven female cadets of the Philippine Military Academy class of 1997. The couple had three children, Francis Seth Trillanes, Thea Estelle Trillanes, and their third child, Alan Andrew Trillanes (who died of an illness at 21 days old).
He spent his elementary years at Siena College, Quezon City from 1975-1983 and his secondary education was at the Angelicum in Quezon City from 1983-1987. After his high school life, the senator took up BS in Electronics and Communications Engineering at the De La Salle University in Taft Avenue in Manila from 1987 to 1991. While in his fourth year, a few trimesters left before graduation, Trillanes decided to enter the PMA in 1991, where he graduated cum laude in 1995.
Antonio Trillanes is dubbed by Senator Meriam Defensor Santiago as the youngest and the most handsome senator. The aspiring vice president started his political career in the Senate in 2010 (he is the first Philippine Senator to be elected while in jail), when he was given a provisional freedom pending the recognition of the court’s amnesty declaration by President Benigno S. Aquino III. In the 2013 May election, Trillanes was formally proclaimed as a senator by the Commission on Elections. He was re-elected by 14,127,722 Filipinos as per COMELEC’s official tally votes.
Based on his Senate profile, Trillanes is one of the most productive legislators in terms of number bills, committee reports filed and resolutions, tallying to 1,109 bills and resolutions, 56 of which have been passed into law.
The following are among the bills he passed into law:
Joint Resolution No. 5: Increasing Subsistence Allowance of Uniformed Personnel (Principal Author and Principal Sponsor)
RA 10349: New AFP Modernization Act (Principal Author)
Congressional Joint Resolution No. 4: Salary Standardization Law 3 (Co-Author)
RA 10627: Anti-Bullying Law (Principal Author)
RA 9522: Archipelagic Baselines Law (Principal Author)
RA 10591: Gun Control Act (Principal Author
RA 10154: Immediate Release of Retirement Benefits of Government Employees (Principal Author and Principal Sponsor)
RA 10589: Anti-Corruption Month Act (Principal Author and Principal Sponsor)
RA 10649: Burial Assistance (Principal Author and Principal Sponsor)
RA 9679: Expanded Pag-Ibig Fund Coverage (Co-Author)
- 9994: Expanded Senior Citizens Act (Co-Author)
RA 10070: Magna Carta for Disabled Persons (Co-Author)
RA 9502: Cheaper Medicines (Co-Author)
RA 10653: Php75, 000.00 Caps For Income Tax Exemption of the 13th Month Pay/Other Benefits (Co-Author)
RA 10645: Providing for the Mandatory Phil Health Coverage for All Senior Citizens (Co-Author)
RA 10606: National Health Insurance Act of 1995 (Amended) (Co-Author)
RA 10586: Anti-Drunk and Drugged Driving Act Of 2013 (Co-Author)
RA 10664: Armed Forces of the Filipino Week (Principal Sponsor)
RA 10364: Expanded Anti- Trafficking In Persons Act (Principal Author)
RA 10535: Philippine Standard Time Law (Principal Sponsor and Co-author)
RA 9828: Military Service Board (Co-Author)
RA 9708: PNP Education and Promotions Act (Co-Author)
RA 9500: University of the Philippines Charter (Co-Author)
RA 10121: Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management System Act Of 2010 (Co-Author)
RA 10350: Philippine Interior Design Act of 2012 (Principal Author and Principal Sponsor)
RA 10657: Chemistry Law of 2013 (Principal Author and Principal Sponsor)
RA 10166: Geology Profession Act of 2012 (Principal Author and Principal Sponsor)
RA 10588: Palarong Pambansa Act of 2013 (Principal Sponsor and Co-author)
RA 10587: Environmental Planning Act of 2013 (Principal Sponsor and Co-author)
RA 10176: Arbor Day Act Of 2012 (Principal Author)
RA 10024: Philippine Respiratory Therapy Act of 2009 (Principal Author)
RA 9993: Philippine Coast Guard Law (Co-Author)
RA 10659: Sugarcane Industry Development Act of 2014 (Co-Author)
RA 9593: Tourism Act (Co-Author)
RA 10071: Prosecution Service Act (Co-Author)
RA 10152: Mandatory Infants and Children Health Immunization Act Of 2011 (Co-Author)
RA 10173: Data Privacy Act of 2012 (Principal Author)
RA 10084: Survivor Benefits Payment of COA, CSC, COMELEC, and Ombudsman Deceased Retired Members (Co-Author)
RA 10066: Natural Cultural Heritage Act of 2009 (Co-Author)
RA 10029: Philippine Psychology Act of 2009 (Co-Author)
RA 10054: Motorcycle Helmet Act of 2009 (Co-Author)
RA 10635: Establishing MARINA as the Single Maritime Administration responsible for the Implementation and Enforcement of the STCW Convention (Principal Sponsor and Co-author)
RA 10650: Open Learning and Distance Education Act of 2014 (Co-Author)
RA 10156: Conferring upon members of the Sangguniang Bayan, Sangguniang Panlungsod and Sangguniang Panlalawigan the Appropriate Civil Service Eligibility (Co-Author)
RA 9646: Real Estate Service Act (Principal Sponsor and Co-author)
RA 10668: Carriage of Foreign Container Vans (Cabotage Law) (Principal Author)
RA 10667: Fair Competition Act of 2014 (Co-Author)
RA 10638: Extending the Corporate Life of the Philippine National Railways for another Fifty (50) Years (Co-Author)
RA 10644: An Act Promoting the Reduction of Poverty through the Development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (Co-Sponsor)
References:
http://www.trillanes.com.ph/about/the-senator/ , http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php/Antonio_Trillanes_IV
(Written by Mary Faith Bonalos, Edited by Jay Paul Carlos, Additional Research by Lovely Ann Cruz)
