APPLICANT FOR VICE PRESIDENT: Francis ‘Kiko’ Pangilinan

FRANCIS “KIKO” PANGILINAN

Personal information

• 58 years old
• Born on Aug. 24, 1963
• Married to singer-actress Sharon Cuneta
• Father of four
• President, Liberal Party

Educational background

• Bachelor of Arts, English Major in Comparative Literature, University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman
• Bachelor of Laws, UP Diliman
• Masters in Public Administration (Area of Concentration: Strategic Management), Harvard University – John F. Kennedy School of Government

Government experience

• Member of the Quezon City Council (1988 to 1992)
• Senator (2001 to 2013, 2016 to present); Senate Majority Leader (2004 to 2008); Senate Minority Leader (2017-2020)
• Presidential Assistant for Food Security and Agricultural Modernization (2014 to 2015)

Pangilinan had been active in politics since he was young and was a student activist during the Marcos dictatorship. He was also chairperson of the UP College of Arts and Letters Student Council, then l chairperson of the UP Student Council. He was also the first student representative at the UP Board of Regents.

After graduating from college, Pangilinan was elected as the youngest city councilor in Quezon City in 1988. He then ran for a congressional seat in the 1992 elections, but was unsuccessful. He worked for ABS-CBN as an anchorman as well as a lawyer giving free legal assistance and closely monitoring cases. In 2001, Pangilinan won a Senate seat.

As senator, he was sponsor and author of the laws improving the salary and providing special benefits to justices and judges and other members of the judiciary; institutionalizing an alternative dispute resolution system; strengthening and rationalizing the National Prosecution Service; and amending the Philippine Teachers Professionalization Act.

He was also author of the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act, Coconut Farmers and Industry Trust Fund Act which seeks to create a trust fund for coconut farmers.

Pangilinan is running for vice president against Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, husband of his wife’s aunt, actress Helen Gamboa. Cuneta’s late mother is Gamboa’s sister.

In the 2004 elections, Sotto accused Pangilinan, who was part of the National Board of Canvassers, of stonewalling request to scrutinize the results of the polls as cheating might have occurred. Sotto served as the campaign manager of the late presidential bet Fernando Poe Jr., who lost to then incumbent Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Pangilinan then called on the Department of Justice and the Commission on Elections to look into the allegations, buth he was criticized for being “Mr. Noted.”

Pangilinan, who is LP president, also became the target of President Duterte’s tirades – despite having known him since 1999. In one instance in 2019, Duterte stirred a rumor that the senator’s wife kicked him out of their home. Cuneta later refuted the President’s claims. 

Also in 2019, Pangilinan attempted to resign as LP president after no single candidate from the “Otso Diretso '' opposition slate won a Senate seat in the midterm elections. However, LP chairperson and Vice President Leni Robredo rejected his resignation, citing that “much work remains to be done, and they will do it, together.”

In July, Pangilinan sued Google Philippines and the owners of two YouTube channels over viral videos claiming that he was an abusive husband to Cuneta and that she was committing infidelity.

COC filing

Pangilinan made his vice presidential bid official when he filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) before the Commission on Elections on Friday, Oct. 8 at the Harbor Garden Tent of the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila. He was accompanied by his running mate, Robredo, who announced her decision to run for president on Oct. 7.

But even before announcing his candidacy, reports already surfaced that he was chosen to be Robredo’s running mate. Pangilinan will be running under LP, unlike Robredo who filed as an independent.

Turning emotional during a press briefing after the filing, the senator said he never intended to run for the vice presidency as he was already preparing his reelection bid.

“To be honest, it was a call of duty. Call of duty not just to Ma’am Leni, not just to the part, coalition or the supporters, but it was a sacred duty for the entire country,” he said in Filipino.

“If there is an opportunity to help others, if there is a chance to serve in a broader way, if there was a call to serve on a higher post, it is our duty to respond especially in the midst of the nation’s greatest health and economic crisis,” he added.

While it was a difficult decision for him and his family, Pangilinan later shared that it seemed easier for his wife to support his vice presidential bid than when he ran for senator in 2016.

“I accept the challenge. And I accept this not because of the certainty of our victory, but because of the certainty of our stand and beliefs,” he said, citing his priorities to provide jobs, food, vaccines, housing and education.

“The landscape may change, the challenge may be bigger, but what I fight for will not change… I will be the same and I will have the same principles and dreams that I will push for as your vice president,” he added.

Related reading: Full Speech Of Sen. Kiko Pangilinan As He Declares Bid For Vice Presidency

Why choose Pangilinan as her running mate? According to Robredo, Pangilinan “is the choice who makes the most sense.”

“Unang una, matagal na kaming magkasangga sa laban. Pangalawa, shared iyong aming mga paniniwala, mga prinsipyo, mga aspirations para sa bayan, papaano namin dadalhin iyong bayan sa kung saan iyong dapat na kaniyang patutunguhan (First off, we’ve been allies for so long in this fight. Second, we have shared beliefs, principles, aspirations for the nation and how we will steer the country to where it should be),” Robredo told reporters.

Robredo also cited Pangilinan’s advocacy to improve agriculture and ensure food security, which she said would be a big help to the country’s pandemic response.

‘Conventional wisdom’

Asked further how the two of them will pull off their campaign amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Pangilinan said they may utilize the use of technology.

“I think this is an indication of what going around the country might be like…(through) smaller groups, the media, livestreaming, technology,” he said. 

“It will be hybrid,” he added, and will be modified based on health and safety protocols.

Pangilinan said the last-minute decision to field him as LP’s presidential candidate doesn’t matter.

“Conventional wisdom says you have to declare early so that you can ensure that your voters, supporters will mobilize and prepare. But the evidence is to the contrary,” he stressed, citing as examples the 2010 and 2016 elections where the last to declare won as president.

He was referring to the late former president Benigno Aquino III and his successor, Rodrigo Duterte.