Senate adopts resolution honoring Ed Angara

The Senate adopted Tuesday a resolution honoring the late former Senate President Edgardo Javier Angara and offering its sympathies to his bereaved family.

Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III said the Senate would present the resolution to the Angara family after the necrological service on Wednesday morning at the session hall.

“The resolution enumerates the illustrious and colorful career of former Senate President Angara as a public servant which spanned almost five decades,” Pimentel said when he presented the resolution in the plenary.

He said Angara was a colleague of his father, former Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr., in the 1971 Constitutional Convention. The two were also colleagues in the Senate.

“If you look at the number of laws, the landmark laws, authored, shepherded, and passed by former Senate President Angara, we could not help but shake our head and not believe that someone could achieve all of these,” Pimentel said.

Pimentel said that he used to associate Angara with education because of the Free Education Act but an examination of the laws he passed showed that the former senator was a multi-faceted, multi-talented legislator.

“My dear friends and colleagues, this is the man that we are honoring tomorrow,” Pimentel said.

All the senators present during the session were made co-author of the resolution.

The Senate adjourned its session early as it “mourns the passing” of Angara.

Angara was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte as Special Envoy to the European Union, and the Chairman of the New Clark City under the current administration.

Prior to this, he served as senator from 1987 to 1998, and from 2001 to 2013.

Among the laws he authored is the Free High School Act, and the establishment of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), and the National Health Insurance Act (PhilHealth).

He also authored the Senior Citizens Act, the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA), the Renewable Energy Act, and the Procurement Reform Act.

Angara was also the Agriculture Secretary under the administration of former President and incumbent Manila City Mayor Joseph Ejercito Estrada, and President of the University of the Philippines from 1981 to 1987.

The former senator’s passing Sunday was announced by his son, Senator Juan Edgardo Angara. —NB, GMA News