Who was Jose de Venecia Jr.?

Former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. passed away on Tuesday at the age of 89. 

According to his archived profile from the House website, De Venecia served seven terms as a member of the House of Representatives representing Pangasinan.

He first took his seat in the House as Pangasinan’s 2nd district representative from 1969 to 1972. He later represented Pangasinan’s 4th district in 1987-1991; 1992-1995; 1995-1998; 2001-2004; 2004-2007; and in 2007-2010.

During those seven terms, De Venecia was elected as Speaker five times.

He first led the lower chamber during the 9th Congress (1992-1995) and was elected anew in the 10th Congress (1995-1998). 

He became Speaker again during the 12th Congress (2001-2004) and the 13th Congress (2004-2007). 

During the 14th Congress, De Venecia’s stint as Speaker was cut short in 2008 after he was ousted from his post. 

As a lawmaker, De Venecia was the principal author of the Dollar Remittance Program, the Bases Conversion and Development Act, the Build-Operate-Transfer Law, the Philippine Economic Zone Act, and the New Central Bank Act.

Before his career as a lawmaker, De Venecia was a Filipino diplomat assigned to Vietnam as Minister-Economic Counselor from 1966 to 1969.

He also crafted and implemented the historic dollar-remittance program for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

He was also a peace envoy after initiating dialogue with various rebel factions, including the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) secessionists, the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM) rebels, and the New People’s Army (NPA). 

In 1997, De Venecia went to the Netherlands to meet with exiled communist leaders Jose Ma. Sison and Luis Jalandoni, paving the way for a preliminary agreement with the National Democratic Front (NDF) and NPA in early 1998.

In 2001, he went back to the Netherlands to convince Sison to resume the peace talks. 

De Venecia married Ma. Georgina Perez, who is now the incumbent 4th district representative of Pangasinan.

De Venecia had six children, including former Pangasinan 4th District Rep. Christopher “Toff” de Venecia and Maria Kristina Casimira or “KC,” who passed away in a fire at the de Venecia's house in 2004. — JMA, GMA Integrated News