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Cesar Enrique Aguinaldo Virata (born 12 December 1930) is a
Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...
former statesman and businessman who was the fourth Prime Minister of the Philippines from 1981 to 1986. He is currently the corporate vice chairman of the
Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation The Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC) () is one of the largest universal banks in the Philippines with total consolidated resources of Php 959 billion. It was established in 1960 as a development bank and is licensed by the Bangko ...
. He is the eponym of the Cesar Virata School of Business, the business school of the
University of the Philippines Diliman , image = University of The Philippines seal.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = Official Logo of UP Diliman , motto = Honor and Excellence , established = February 12, 194 ...
.


Government service


Finance minister

He served as
Finance Minister A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...
from 1970 to 1986 under
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Ferdinand Marcos.


Prime Minister of the Philippines

Virata served as
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
of the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
from 1981 to 1986 under the
Interim Batasang Pambansa The Interim Batasang Pambansa (English: Interim National Assembly) was the legislature of the Republic of the Philippines from its inauguration on June 12, 1978 to June 5, 1984. It served as a transitional legislative body mandated by the 1973 ...
and the
Regular Batasang Pambansa The Regular Batasang Pambansa (English: Regular National Assembly), or the First Batasang Pambansa, was the meeting of the Batasang Pambansa from the beginning of its session on July 23, 1984 until it was abolished by President Corazon Aquino on ...
, concurrently with his position as Finance Minister. He also headed the
National Economic and Development Authority The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA; fil, Pambansang Pangasiwaan sa Kabuhayan at Pagpapaunlad) is an independent cabinet-level agency of the Philippine government responsible for economic development and planning. It is headed ...
(NEDA), the country's highest economic planning body, while also serving as the Prime Minister. Virata was the third to occupy the position and was succeeded by economist Vicente Valdepeñas, Jr.


After the 1986 EDSA Revolution

He was replaced as Prime Minister in the aftermath of the 1986
People Power Revolution The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, was a series of popular demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986. There was a sustained campaign of c ...
by
Salvador Laurel Salvador Roman Hidalgo Laurel (, November 18, 1928 – January 27, 2004), also known as Doy Laurel, was a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the vice president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992 under President Corazon Aquino an ...
. Laurel succeeded Virata as Prime Minister on 25 February 1986, through the appointment of Corazon Aquino, but the position was abolished a month later by Proclamation No. 3 (the 'Freedom Constitution'). The office was confirmed as superseded by the
1987 Constitution The Constitution of the Philippines ( Filipino: ''Saligang Batas ng Pilipinas'' or ''Konstitusyon ng Pilipinas'', Spanish: ''Constitución de la República de Filipinas'') is the constitution or the supreme law of the Republic of the Philippin ...
, which again fused the offices of the head of state and the head of government in the President.


Academe

Prior to assuming leadership positions in the government service during the Marcos administration, Virata used to teach at the business school of the
University of the Philippines Diliman , image = University of The Philippines seal.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = Official Logo of UP Diliman , motto = Honor and Excellence , established = February 12, 194 ...
. He served as dean of the College of Business Administration, which was named after him on April 12, 2013 by the University of the Philippines Board of Regents (BOR) as the Cesar E.A. Virata School of Business. Several interest groups, including U.P. Kilos Na, have protested this renaming of the business school, and the BOR decided to restudy its decision during its board meeting held last July 29, 2013. Some members in certain interest groups, including U.P. Kilos Na, the UP Diliman University Council, undergraduates of the UP College of Business, and in the BOR itself then objected to renaming the business school after Virata. The matter was discussed at length in a series of meetings which resulted in the BOR re-affirming its decision to rename the college after Virata.


Family and personal life

Virata is married to Phylita Joy Gamboa, a popular stage actress, and has three children: Steven Cesar, a businessman; Gillian Joyce, an educator; and Michael Dean, a doctor specializing in infectious diseases. The grandnephew of the first President, Emilio Aguinaldo, Virata holds an MBA from the
Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in ...
. Virata is also an accomplished tennis player. His uncle, Leonides Sarao Virata, also served during under Marcos as Secretary of Trade and Industry and chairman of the
Development Bank of the Philippines The Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) is a state-owned development bank headquartered in Makati, Philippines. It was established after World War II in 1947 on the government's effort through its mandate to rebuild the country's war to ...
. As with most of his family, Virata is a member of the Philippine Independent Church.


Biographies

Virata's life and his impact on Philippine economic history have been the subject of various books. The most of extensive biography to cover Virata as its main subject is Gerardo Sicat's 2014 biography, "Cesar Virata: Life and Times Through Four Decades of Philippine Economic History." He is also one of the main subjects of Teresa S. Encarnacion Tadem's 2019 Ateneo Press book "Philippine Politics and the Marcos Technocrats: The Emergence and Evolution of a Power Elite."


Honors

* Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (2016) *Most Distinguished Brother
Pan Xenia International Professional Foreign Trade Fraternity


See also

* Prime Minister of the Philippines *
National Economic and Development Authority The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA; fil, Pambansang Pangasiwaan sa Kabuhayan at Pagpapaunlad) is an independent cabinet-level agency of the Philippine government responsible for economic development and planning. It is headed ...
(Prime Minister was also the head of the NEDA) * Gerardo P. Sicat, 2014. ''Cesar Virata Life and Times Through Four Decades of Philippine Economic History'', Diliman, Quezon City: The University of Philippines Press, .


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Virata, Cesar 1930 births Living people Aguinaldo family Prime Ministers of the Philippines Filipino Protestants Members of the Philippine Independent Church Directors-General of the National Economic and Development Authority of the Philippines Secretaries of Finance of the Philippines Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Cavite People from Kawit, Cavite Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania alumni Ferdinand Marcos administration cabinet members Members of the Batasang Pambansa