Former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. laid to rest

Former Pangasinan congressman Jose de Venecia Jr., the longest serving Speaker of the House of Representatives, was laid to rest Wednesday.

His remains were interred at the Libingan ng mga Bayani following a funeral mass at the Heritage Memorial Park in Taguig City. The former lawmaker passed away on February 10, 2026 at the age of 89.

According to Mao dela Cruz’s report on Super Radyo dzBB, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) accorded De Venecia with a 21-gun salute. Among the high-ranking officials who attended the interment were Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., and former president and incumbent Pampanga 2nd District Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

De Venecia served seven terms as a House member representing his home province of Pangasinan. He served as the Speaker of the House in five of his seven terms.

Yumaong si dating House Speaker Jose De Venecia, Jr., naihatid na sa kanyang huling hantungan sa Libingan ng mga Bayani sa Taguig City. | via Mao dela Cruz pic.twitter.com/nIgKjTXOe9

— DZBB Super Radyo (@dzbb) February 18, 2026

He was also 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).

READ: Who was Jose de Venecia Jr.?

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 "Gina" Perez, who is now the incumbent 4th district representative of Pangasinan.

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