Francis Ng Tolentino is a senator in the 19th Congress, getting a seat on his second attempt in 2019. He had lost in his first senatorial bid in 2016, placing 13th when 12 seats were available.
Tolentino, however, was not a greenhorn in campaigns and elections. His father, Isaac Tolentino, served as mayor of Tagaytay City for 26 year – the longest in that post – from 1954 to 1980. In 1986, newly installed president Corazon Aquino appointed Francis OIC mayor of Tagaytay. Eleven years later, in 1995, he was elected mayor, and reelected twice to serve the maximum allowed terms until 2004.
He did not return to local politics anymore, as his brother Bambol (full name: Abraham Tolentino) took over as mayor in 2004 and had been alternating with his wife in the position since. The Tolentinos are the second largest political dynasty in Cavite, as of the 2022 elections.
In 2010, Francis Tolentino was named chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority by president Benigno Aquino III. He was the first non-Manileño to have held the post. He served until 2015, resigning to prepare for his first senatorial campaign.
During Tolentino’s time at the MMDA, the agency introduced the integrated bus terminal concept, which prohibited buses coming from his home province of Cavite from plying beyond the end of the Coastal Road in Parañaque City. A commuters’ group protested the policy, citing how it would inconvenience commuters who would have additional stops – therefore, additional cost and time – getting to their destinations. At the time, there were no connecting rides from the terminal to the city centers. This Southwest Interim Transport Terminal became the forerunner of the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange, a transport terminal servicing several provinces and a commercial center.
It was also during Tolentino’s time when the MMDA started providing real-time traffic updates via social media, and relaunched the Pasig River Ferry to ease traffic congestion in the National Capital Region.
While he was initially considered by the Liberal Party as one of its senatorial candidates for 2016, Tolentino was dropped from the ticket after a 2015 incident, where he was alleged to have brought a girl group, which did a lewd performance at a political event of his party mate in Laguna province. He denied this, and said he was just a guest. A 2013 social media post by the group, however, indicated a connection with Tolentino – they thanked him for getting their services for his brother Abraham’s campaign.
Tolentino lost in the 2016 election, placing 13th. He accused the 12th winning candidate, Leila de Lima, of cheating her of the seat, and pursued a protest with the Senate Electoral Tribunal for two years, while he was serving as then-president Rodrigo Duterte’s political affairs adviser. He withdrew the protest in 2018 so he could focus on preparing for this 2019 senatorial bid, which he would eventually win.
He currently serves as Senate majority floor leader, and chairs the committee on ethics and privileges and the committee on rules. Previously, before the leadership changes in the chamber, he chaired the committee on justice and human rights and the blue ribbon committee.
In the 18th Congress, in recognition of his experience as longtime mayor and as MMDA chief, he was named chairperson of the Senate committee on local government and of the committee on urban planning, housing, and resettlement.
Tolentino is a law graduate of the Ateneo de Manila University, and has earned three masterals in law from universities in the United States and the United Kingdom. An Armed Forces of the Philippines reservist, he also holds a master’s degree in national security administration from the National Defense College of the Philippines.
He is not married, but has a son that sits as the No. 1 councilor of Tagaytay City.
