Robin Padilla

Robin Padilla (full name: Robinhood Ferdinand Cariño Padilla) is a neophyte senator, elected into office in 2022. Endorsed by the popular outgoing president Rodrigo Duterte, backed by former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and still enjoying considerable popularity as an actor, Padilla topped the Senate race.

Coming from a family of actors, Padilla made headlines for playing “bad boy” roles in top-grossing movies and for seemingly living up to the image even offscreen. In 1992, at the height of his popularity, Padilla was apprehended by authorities in a hit-and-run incident; the inspection of his car led to the discovery of several firearms reportedly with live ammunition. In 1994, he was sentenced to 17 to 21 years in prison for illegal possession of firearms.

While the authorities failed to arrest him upon conviction, he was able to run for vice governor of Nueva Ecija, a province north of Metro Manila, in May 1995, but lost his bid.

During his time in the national penitentiary, Padilla, a former Jehovah’s Witness member, converted to Islam, saying that among the missionaries who visited the prisons, it was the Muslim imams who had the patience to answer his many questions about faith and spirituality. He was allowed to shoot a movie while in the facility.

In 1997, administration senator Ramon Revilla, himself a former action star, authored a bill that would become Republic Act 8294, which lowered the penalty for gun possession. Revilla had openly said the law was meant to aid Padilla. This became the basis for then-president Fidel Ramos to grant Padilla conditional pardon in 1998. The actor had campaigned for Ramos during the 1992 presidential election.

In 2016, he campaigned for Rodrigo Duterte in the presidential election, and supported the latter’s bloody war on drugs. Duterte granted Padilla absolute pardon, restoring his civil and political rights, making him eligible to run in the 2022 senatorial race.

Padilla may be known for his career in show business, but he wasn’t a stranger to politics. He is the son of the late Casimero “Roy” Padilla (with lover Eva Cariño, an actress), who served as governor of Camarines Norte. Roy Padilla was assassinated while speaking at a campaign rally in 1987. Years later, his older half-brother, Roy Padilla Jr., also served as governor of the province. Robin’s other siblings would later occupy elective positions in Camarines Norte and Nueva Ecija.

As senator, Padilla has taken strong positions favoring the legalization of marijuana for medical use, requiring military training for students, recognition of same-sex union, and the protection of specific rights of Muslims and indigenous groups, and of entertainment industry workers.

Currently the chairperson of the Senate committee on constitutional amendments and revision of codes, Padilla is a believer in the advantages of federalism. He also chairs the committee on cultural communities and Muslim affairs and the committee on public information and mass media. On the Senate website, Padilla’s profile page is the only one written in the national language, Filipino.

Padilla was previously married to Liezl Sicangco, with whom he has four children. He is now married to TV personality Mariel Rodriguez, with whom he has two young children. He has sired two children, now grown-ups, with two former actresses.