Benjamin Abalos, Jr.
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Benjamin "Benhur" de Castro Abalos Jr. (born July 19, 1962) is a Filipino lawyer and politician serving as
Secretary of the Interior and Local Government The secretary of the interior and local government (Filipino: ''Kalihim ng Interyor at Pamahalaang Lokal'') is the member of the Cabinet in charge of the Department of the Interior and Local Government. The current secretary is Benjamin Abalos ...
since 2022. Before his appointment as DILG secretary, he last served as the Chairman of the
Metropolitan Manila Development Authority The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA; fil, Pangasiwaan sa Pagpapaunlad ng Kalakhang Maynila) is a government agency of the Philippines responsible for constituting the regional government of Metro Manila, comprising the capital ...
(MMDA) under the Duterte administration from 2021 to 2022. Previously, he served as the city mayor of
Mandaluyong Mandaluyong, officially the City of Mandaluyong ( fil, Lungsod ng Mandaluyong), is a first class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 425,758 people. Loca ...
,
Metro Manila Metropolitan Manila (often shortened as Metro Manila; fil, Kalakhang Maynila), officially the National Capital Region (NCR; fil, link=no, Pambansang Punong Rehiyon), is the seat of government and one of three defined metropolitan areas in ...
, for five terms, as congressman and as councilor of the same city. He is the son of Benjamin Abalos, a former
Commission on Elections An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
(COMELEC) and MMDA chairman. In January 2021, Abalos was appointed to the same position in the MMDA as his father following the death of
Danilo Lim Danilo "Danny" Delapuz Lim (June 2, 1955 – January 6, 2021) was a Filipino soldier who served as Chair of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority from 2017 until his death in 2021. He was incarcerated at Camp Crame in Quezon City fr ...
who died from complications of
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
.


Early life and education

Abalos is the second eldest of the five children of Benjamin Abalos and Corazon de Castro. He attended his elementary and secondary education at
Don Bosco Technical College Don Bosco Technical College, also referred to by its acronym DBTC or Don Bosco Mandaluyong, is a private Catholic basic and higher education institution run by the Salesians of the Society of Saint John Bosco in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Phi ...
, where he completed the latter in 1979. He obtained his
Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...
degree in history and political science at De La Salle University in 1982. He then attended
Ateneo de Manila University , mottoeng = Light in the Lord , type = Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution , established = December 10, 1859 , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic ( Jesuits) , academic ...
, where he completed
Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...
degree in 1987. As a law student at Ateneo, he was a representative to the Student Council during his first and fourth years. He was admitted to the bar in 1987.


Political career


City Councilor of Mandaluyong (1995—1998)

Abalos first served as Councilor from the 1st district of
Mandaluyong Mandaluyong, officially the City of Mandaluyong ( fil, Lungsod ng Mandaluyong), is a first class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 425,758 people. Loca ...
from 1995 to 1998. In that role, he chaired the Committee on Laws, Peace & Order and Public Safety and served on the Committee on Angara Affairs and Livelihood and Cooperatives.


Mayor of Mandaluyong (1998—2004)

Abalos was first elected mayor in 1998. His brand of governance was credited for transforming Mandaluyong into the “Tiger City of the Philippines” in just one term of office. He served as the local chief executive until 2004.


Congressman, Lone District of Mandaluyong (2004—2007)

In the 2004 elections, he switched positions with a longtime political ally, Rep. Neptali Gonzales II, to become the city's lone representative to the
House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
of the Philippine Congress. Abalos served in this capacity until 2007. As a member of the lower house, he authored a total of 25 House bills and co-authored 54 others. He sponsored the biggest budget of the
Philippine Sports Commission The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC, ) is an agency of the Philippine government which tackles matters concerning sports in the country. The sports agency is independent from the Philippine Olympic Committee which enjoys autonomy from the go ...
in its entire history. In addition, Abalos was the principal author of Republic Act No. 9397, otherwise known as the Amended Urban Development Housing Act of 1992.


Mayor of Mandaluyong (2007—2016)

In 2007, Abalos was again elected mayor of Mandaluyong. In his second term as mayor, Abalos set new records after being elected as president of two national organizations. The first organization was th
Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines
(ULAP), an organization of all 1.2 million elected/appointed local officials in the country and their umbrella organizations (League of Governors, League of Vice Governors, Board Members, City Mayors, Municipal Mayors, Vice Mayors, Councillors, and Sangguinaang Kabataan, as well as nurses' and midwives' organizations). The second organization was th
League of Cities of the Philippines
(LCP), an organization of all 122 city mayors of the country. He was the first mayor to hold the presidency of these two prestigious organizations concurrently. His term in ULAP was also the first time a mayor had headed ULAP, which had traditionally been headed by a governor.


Chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (2021—2022)

Abalos was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte as the chairman of the
Metropolitan Manila Development Authority The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA; fil, Pangasiwaan sa Pagpapaunlad ng Kalakhang Maynila) is a government agency of the Philippines responsible for constituting the regional government of Metro Manila, comprising the capital ...
(MMDA) on January 11, 2021, replacing
Danilo Lim Danilo "Danny" Delapuz Lim (June 2, 1955 – January 6, 2021) was a Filipino soldier who served as Chair of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority from 2017 until his death in 2021. He was incarcerated at Camp Crame in Quezon City fr ...
, who died due to the coronavirus. Serving during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, he vowed to abide by the principle of good governance which he championed in Mandaluyong for more than a decade as its local chief executive. As head of the MMDA, Abalos led the agency in responding to the needs of Metro Manila pursuant to the mandates of the MMDA under Republic Act No. 7924. With this task at hand, Abalos enjoined all of the agency employees to continue working well in delivering efficient public service. Aside from being the MMDA Chairman, he is also the Chairman of the Regional Development Council for the
National Capital Region A capital region, also called a capital district or capital territory, is a region or district surrounding a capital city. It is not always the official term for the region, but may sometimes be used as an informal synonym. Capital regions can exis ...
and the presiding officer of the Metro Manila Council (the governing board and policy-making body of the MMDA). Abalos resigned from the post on February 7, 2022, to serve as the national campaign manager of presidential aspirant Bongbong Marcos, one day before the start of the official campaign period for national candidates.


Secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government

On May 13, 2022, Atty. Victor Rodriguez, the spokesperson of presumptive president Bongbong Marcos, announced that Abalos has accepted Marcos's nomination to become the
Secretary of the Interior and Local Government The secretary of the interior and local government (Filipino: ''Kalihim ng Interyor at Pamahalaang Lokal'') is the member of the Cabinet in charge of the Department of the Interior and Local Government. The current secretary is Benjamin Abalos ...
. The announcement came a few days after the 2022 presidential elections while Marcos is leading the partial and unofficial tallies by a huge lead. Abalos said he would bring his extensive political experience when he leads the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) under the administration of Marcos. At this time when there is a strong call for our nation’s unity, Abalos said the "DILG will play a paramount role in promoting peace and order and in bringing together our local government units."


Personal life

Abalos is married to Carmelita "Menchie" Aguilar, the incumbent mayor of Mandaluyong, since 1985. He met her when she joined
Binibining Pilipinas Binibining Pilipinas (abbreviated as Bb. Pilipinas; ) is a national beauty pageant in the Philippines that selects Filipina representatives to compete in one of the Big Four international beauty pageants: Miss International and selects two ot ...
representing
Cavite Cavite, officially the Province of Cavite ( tl, Lalawigan ng Kabite; Chavacano: ''Provincia de Cavite''), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region in Luzon. Located on the southern shores of Manila Bay and southwest ...
. They have six children: identical twins Charisse and Ciara Marie, Benjamin III (Benjie), Charlene Marie, Maria Corazon (Corrine), and Celine Marie. Ciara Marie died in 2005 at age 19 due to an
Escherichia coli ''Escherichia coli'' (),Wells, J. C. (2000) Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. Harlow ngland Pearson Education Ltd. also known as ''E. coli'' (), is a Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform bacterium of the genus '' Esc ...
bacterial infection. Two of his children also entered politics; Charisse served as councilor from the 1st district of Mandaluyong from 2013 to 2022, while Benjamin III currently serves as councilor from the 2nd district since 2019. Maria Corazon is one of the delegates for Miss Universe Philippines 2021.


Health

In July 2020, Abalos tested positive for
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
, after his father, Benjamin Sr., his mother, and his daughter Charisse tested positive for the disease prior to his diagnosis. He was able to recover from the disease.


Occupation

* Lecturer,
University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 20 ...
-
National College of Public Administration and Governance National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...


Awards


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abalos, Benjamin Jr. 1962 births Living people Filipino educators 20th-century Filipino lawyers 21st-century Filipino politicians Mayors of Mandaluyong Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Mandaluyong Metro Manila city and municipal councilors Ateneo de Manila University alumni De La Salle University alumni Chairpersons of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Duterte administration personnel Lakas–CMD (1991) politicians PDP–Laban politicians Campaign managers Bongbong Marcos administration cabinet members