MANILA, Philippines – Who are the men and women representing you in the 16th Congress?
Rappler assembled profile pages of the 24 senators and 234 district representatives who will be making important decisions on your behalf in the next 3 years.
We will be regularly updating these pages as new information comes in – how the lawmakers are performing, how they are spending their pork barrel, what wealth they are accumulating while in office, and other matters of public interest.
We also urge you to share with us any information that could help us assess our legislators’ performance, ensure transparency in the way they work, and make them accountable.
Email us at research@rappler.com.
Below are quick statistics on the 16th Congress. The information below does not include data for party-list representatives yet.
Overwhelmingly male
As in the past, the 16th Congress is dominated by men.
This is true in both chambers. Only 6 of 24 senators are women. Women also comprise just over a quarter (64 members) of the 234 district representatives in the House.
Men constitute 73% of all district representatives.
Middle-aged
Majority of our senators and representatives are in their 40s and 50s.
The youngest is 27 years old (Camiguin Rep XJ Romualdo), while the oldest is 84 (Ilocos Norte Rep Imelda Marcos).
In the Senate, the youngest is 36 years old (Sen Bam Aquino), and the oldest is 89 years old (Sen Juan Ponce Enrile)
Married
In the certificates of candidacy (COCs) they filed for the 2013 elections, only 26 of the newly-elected district representatives indicated they are single.
Eleven declared they are widows/widowers, 2 said they’re separated, and 2 others did not indicate their marital status.
Among those who are single, 3 are in their 20s, 9 are in their 30s, 8 are in their 40s, 5 are in their 50s, and one is in his 60s.
Among the senators, only Senators Loren Legarda and Chiz Escudero indicated in their COCs that they’re single. Their marriages have been annulled.
The rest of the senators declared they’re married.
Professional politicians?
In their COCs, 91 representatives said that their occupation is either congressman/congresswoman or a local government official.
Next to this cluster, businessmen (60 members) and lawyers (52) comprise the next big professional sub-groups in the House.
The smaller subgroups are doctors (8), farmers (6), engineers (4), accountants (3), teachers (3), business executives (2), economists (2) and government employees (2).
There are 2 sports personalities: Pampanga 1st district Rep Joseller “Yeng” Guiao who is a basketball coach, and Sarangani Rep Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquio, a boxer.
Siquijor’s lone district representative Marie Ann Serrano Pernes is the only dentist in the House.
Cavite 1st District Rep Francis Gerald Abaya is the lone architect.
Ifugao’s lone district representative Teodoro Baguilat Jr indicated that he is a journalist.
Some representatives indicated multiple occupations in their COCs.
There may have been some confusion, though, about how to fill up the “occupation” field in the COCs.
Among the senators, only 6 indicated they are lawyers. Senators Miriam Defensor Santiago, Teofisto Guingona III, and Escudero, who are also lawyers, only entered “Senator” in the field corresponding to their occupation.
Not one of the 4 actors in the Senate indicated this profession in their COCs.
Legarda, a former journalist, no longer put this profession in her COC.
Sen Grace Poe, who headed the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board before she ran for office, and who worked as a pre-school teacher before that, declared she’s a “Public Servant.”
Senator Nancy Binay’s COC listed her occupation as “Personal Assistant.”
More quick stats
About a third of the district representatives – 83 – were born in Metro Manila. This number includes a number of legislators representing districts of Mindanao.
See more details regarding each legislator through the links below:
SENATORS
| Term in office from 2010 to 2016 |
Term in office from 2013 to 2019 |
DISTRICT REPRESENTATIVES
See list of district representatives here: Only 1 in 7 lawmakers are fresh faces
Links to the profile pages of the district representatives will be added soon. Stay tuned!
PARTY-LIST REPRESENTATIVES
Links to the profile pages of the party-list representatives will be added soon. Stay tuned! – Research by Rey Santos Jr/Rappler.com
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