|
Senator Gregorio "GRINGO" Ballesteros Honasan II
All throughout his life, Senator Gregorio “Gringo” Ballesteros
Honasan II had been a consistent achiever. Born on March 14, 1948 in
Baguio City to Colonel Romeo Honasan and Alice Ballesteros, both of
Sorsogon Province, Senator Honasan already exhibited above average
intellectual and leadership abilities even in his younger years.
During his elementary and secondary education both here and abroad,
Honasan was an outstanding student who was accelerated into the
higher grades at the San Beda College and Dominican School in
Taipei, Taiwan and the Don Bosco High School in Mandaluyong. At the
Philippine Military Academy where he took his Bachelor of Science in
1971, he received the academy’s highest leadership award and became
the Class Baron.
After joining the Philippine Army in the same year, he went into
combat duty in Luzon and Mindanao. It was in Mindanao where he was
wounded in action at the battles of Lebak, Mindanao and Jolo, Sulu.
Honasan’s distinguished performance in the military earned him three
(3) Distinguished Stars for Counter Insurgency Operations Against
Economic Saboteurs and Drug Traffickers. Aside from the three (3)
Gold Cross Medals for Gallantry in Action in the Battles of Lebak,
Jolo and Zamboanga in 1973 to 1974, he also received awards such as
Military Merit Medals, Military Commendation Medals, Anti-Insurgency
Medals, Anti-Secessionist Medals and Wounded Personnel Medals for
wounds sustained in actual combat, among others.
Then Lt. Honasan served as Aide-de-Camp to the Secretary of National
Defense in 1974 and later became the department’s Chief of Security.
After leading three (3) successful operations against Insurgents,
economic saboteurs and drug traffickers, Honasan became one of the
youngest full colonels in Philippine history.
Because of his consistent excellence in the military, he was also
named one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men for Military Service by
the Jaycees.
In 1986, he was awarded by then President Corazon Aquino with a
Distinguished Conduct Star for the EDSA Revolution and the
Presidential Government Medal in 1986. He then became the Commandant
of Special Operations School at the Philippine Army Training Command
in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija in 1986 to 1987.
When Honasan finally entered politics in 1995, he became the first
independent candidate in Philippine history to win a Senate seat.
As a lawmaker, Honasan has filed 144 bills and 44 resolutions in the
10th Congress; 68 bills and 68 resolutions in the 11th Congress and
113 bills and 19 resolutions in the 12th Congress. |
|
Among his noteworthy bills signed into law were:
Republic Act Number 8368
– a law that decriminalized squatting.
Republic Act Number 8437
– which extends the period of effectivity of the Rent Control Law,
from January 1, 1998 until December 31, 2001
Republic Act Number 8501
- Condones penalties imposed by government agencies that are
involved in the National Housing Program, all of which have
detrimental effect on intended socialized housing program
beneficiaries;
Republic Act Number 8532
- increases the Agrarian Reform Fund to Fifty Billion Pesos that
will be used to finance production, credits, infrastructure and
other support services and is intended to speed up the
implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program and will
benefit 4,000,000 tillers of land and the agricultural sector;
Concurrent Resolution Number 5
– concurring with the Proclamation number 21 of the President of the
Republic of the Philippines, entitled: “Further Amending
Proclamation Number 347 Granting Amnesty to Rebels, Insurgents And
All Other Persons Who Have Or May Have Committed Crimes In
Furtherance Of Political Ends, And Violations Of The Articles Of
War, And Creating A National Amnesty Commission, As Amended”; and
Republic Act Number 8749,
-otherwise known as the Clean Air Act (An Act Providing for a
Comprehensive Air Pollution Policy and For Other Purposes). This
landmark legislation ensures the people’s right to breath clean air
via clean fuels, emission regulation, and a ban on incinerators,
among others. About 20 Million residents are its projected
beneficiaries.
The legislative agenda of Senator Honasan revolves around Good
Government and Efficient Bureaucracy; Reforms in AFP and PNP;
Industrialization and Genuine Economic Development; Natural
Resources and Environmental Protection and Management; Good
Education for all and Opportunities for the Marginalized Sectors. |
|
His
legislative priorities include:
Senate Bill 1926
– an Act providing for National Security Policy and planning
framework and creating an institutional mechanisms for
implementation and for other purpose.
Senate Bill 1429
– an Act providing for the modernization of the National Mapping and
Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA).
Senate Bill 1435
– an Act providing for Magna Carta for Philippine National Police
(PNP).
Senate Bill 1451
– an Act declaring a National Peace Policy thereby creating a
Commission on Peace.
Senate Bill 1455
– an Act providing for the National Land Use Policy and planning
framework and creating an institutional mechanisms for
implementation and for other purposes.
OTHER NOTABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
Main proponent and author of the National Recovery Program (NRP).
Author of the Mini-Marshall Plan for Mindanao, otherwise known as
the Mindanao Aid Plan. The plan was a comprehensive blueprint for
Mindanao’s socio-economic development following the region’s
devastation due to the full-scale military offensive against the Abu
Sayyaf and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.
To date, he has sponsored over 300 Medical-Dental-Surgical Missions
in depressed areas of the country, serving at least 30,000 indigent
patients.
Prime mover of the National Security Strategy Framework which seeks
to define the country’s national security and strategy in the light
of internal and external security threats and the consequent
National Peace Policy.
Sponsored the computer education scholarship of 3,000 students thru
the Sulong Dunong sa Kaunlaran program
Sponsored the college scholarship of 106 out-of-school youths.
Regularly distributes relief assistance to calamity-hit areas in the
country through his Gregorio B. Honasan Peace and Development
Foundation founded in 1995
Served thousands of constituents requesting for claims for PVAO, SSS
and AFP/PNP claims and refund of teachers’ loans through his Public
Service Program aired over RMN-DZXL and DZRH-Radyo Natin and Gringo
Honasan Reports aired over RPN-9 and PTV-4.
Fellow, National Defense College of the Philippines. |
