Gregorio "Gringo" Ballesteros Honasan II (, born March 14, 1948), is a Filipino politician and a cashiered Philippine Army officer who led unsuccessful coups d'état against President

Corazon Aquino Maria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; ; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipina politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. She was the most prominent figure of the 1986 People ...

. He played a key role in the

1986 EDSA 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 ...

that toppled President Ferdinand Marcos. After 1986, he led a series of unsuccessful but violent coup attempts against the administration of

. President Fidel Ramos granted him amnesty in 1992. He entered politics and became a senator from 1995 to 2004, and again from 2007 to 2019. He ran for vice president of the Philippines, being

Jejomar Binay Jejomar "Jojo" Cabauatan Binay Sr. (born Jesus Jose Cabauatan Binay; November 11, 1942) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 13th vice president of the Philippines from 2010 to 2016, under President Benigno Aquino III. A h ...

's running-mate in 2016, but both were respectively defeated by

Leni Robredo Maria Leonor "Leni" Gerona Robredo (; born Maria Leonor Santo Tomas Gerona; April 23, 1965) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 14th vice president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. She was the wife of the late Jesse R ...

and Rodrigo Duterte. On November 22, 2018, President Duterte appointed then-Senator Honasan as Secretary of

Department of Information and Communications Technology The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) ( fil, Kagawaran ng Teknolohiyang Pang-Impormasyon at Komunikasyon}) is the executive department of the Philippine government responsible for the planning, development and pro ...

, which took effect after the latter's senatorial term, with Eliseo Rio serving as acting secretary.

Early life

Gregorio Honasan was born in

Baguio Baguio ( , ), officially the City of Baguio ( ilo, Siudad ti Baguio; fil, Lungsod ng Baguio), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines" ...

to Colonel Romeo Gillego Honasan and Alicia "Alice" Masip Ballesteros, both from

Sorsogon Sorsogon, officially the Province of Sorsogon ( Bikol: ''Probinsya kan Sorsogon''; Waray: ''Probinsya han Sorsogon''; tl, Lalawigan ng Sorsogon), is a province in the Philippines located in the Bicol Region. It is the southernmost province in ...

province. He has six siblings. Honasan spent his elementary days at

San Beda College es, Universidad de San Beda , image = San Beda University seal.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = University Seal , latin_name = Universitas Sancti Bedæ , former_names ...

from Kindergarten to Grade 6. After which, he went to Taiwan and studied at the Dominican School, Taipei, Taiwan. He then returned to the Philippines and finished his high school at Don Bosco Technical College. He attained his Bachelor of Science degree at the Philippine Military Academy, where he received the title of "Class Baron", the academy's highest leadership award.

Military career

After graduating in 1971, he joined the Philippine Army's special forces,

Scout Ranger Regiment The Scout Rangers, known officially as the First Scout Ranger Regiment,https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2011/11/26/751758/scout-rangers-legend-continues is a Philippine Army unit specializing in anti-guerrilla jungle warfare, raids, ambushes, c ...

and went into combat against separatist and communist insurgents in Luzon and Mindanao. He was wounded in action at battles in

Lebak Lebak, officially the Municipality of Lebak ( hil, Banwa sang Lebak; tl, Bayan ng Lebak; mdh, Inged nu Libak, Jawi: ايڠايد نو ليبق), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Sultan Kudarat, Philippines. According to the 2 ...

and Jolo. Making his way up through the armed forces, he became aide-de-camp to Defense Minister

Juan Ponce Enrile Juan Valentin Furagganan Ponce Enrile Sr., (born Juanito Furagganan; February 14, 1924), also referred to by his initials JPE, or Manong Johnny, is a Filipino politician and lawyer known for his role in the administration of Philippine dicta ...

in 1974, and later became the Defense Ministry's Chief of Security. Concurrent with his position as security chief, he was a board member of the Northern Mindanao Development Bank and president of the Beatriz Marketing Company.

Political career

People Power

In 1986, Honasan and a cabal of colonels, backed by Enrile, tried to use popular unrest to overthrow the

dictatorship A dictatorship is a form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, which holds governmental powers with few to no limitations on them. The leader of a dictatorship is called a dictator. Politics in a dictatorship are ...

of President Ferdinand Marcos. When the plot was uncovered, the conspirators sought refuge in the military headquarters and called on civilians, the media, and the Catholic Church for protection. Hundreds of thousands of people served as human shields to protect Honasan and his men from Marcos' forces, sparking the 1986

People Power Revolution The People Power Revolution, also known as the EDSA Revolution or the February Revolution, was a series of popular Demonstration (people), demonstrations in the Philippines, mostly in Metro Manila, from February 22 to 25, 1986. There was a ...

that led to Marcos' fall from power and the installation of

as president.

Coups d'état

Aquino awarded Honasan a Distinguished Conduct Star for the EDSA Revolution and the Presidential Government Medal in 1986. Under the new government, he was head of a special group in the defense ministry. Using his position, he was covertly involved in various coup attempts against Aquino. On August 28, 1987, fighting broke out in the streets and Honasan ordered his men to attack government installations, resulting in the deaths of dozens, including many civilians. The attack was put down by government forces, but Honasan was able to escape. He was later captured and imprisoned on a Navy ship in Manila Bay. He later escaped once again by convincing his guards to join his cause.

Senate

Philippine President Fidel Ramos, who was elected in 1992, granted

amnesty Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offic ...

to Honasan, who utilized his rebel infamy to enter politics in 1995, becoming the second independent candidate in Philippine history to win a seat in the Senate after Magnolia Antonino. He was re-elected in 2001, filling the vacant seat left by Senator

Teofisto Guingona Jr. Teofisto "Tito" Tayko Guingona Jr. (born July 4, 1928) is a Filipino politician and diplomat who served as the 11th vice president of the Philippines from 2001 to 2004, during the first term of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Born in San ...

, who was appointed by President

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal Arroyo (, born April 5, 1947), often referred to by her initials GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician serving as one of the House Deputy Speakers since 2022, and previously from 2016 to 2017. She previously ...

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

. From April 30 to May 1, 2001, together with

Miriam Defensor Santiago Miriam Palma Defensor-Santiago (''née'' Defensor; June 15, 1945 – September 29, 2016) was a Filipino scholar, academic, lawyer, judge, author, and stateswoman who served in all three branches of the Philippine government: judicial, executiv ...

Panfilo Lacson Panfilo "Ping" Morena Lacson Sr. (; born June 1, 1948) is a Filipino former politician and police general who served as a Senator for three terms: from 2001 to 2013 and from 2016 to 2022. He was the Director General of the Philippine National ...

and

Vicente Sotto III Vicente Castelo Sotto III (; born August 24, 1948), professionally known as Tito Sotto, is a Filipino politician, entertainer and athlete who served as Senate President from 2018 to 2022. Before that, had two stints each as Senate Majority Le ...

, he led the

EDSA III The May 1 riots, or EDSA III (pronounced as ''EDSA Three'' or ''EDSA Tres'', the Spanish word for "three"), were protests sparked by the arrest of newly deposed president Joseph Estrada of the Philippines from April 25 to May 1, 2001. The p ...

protests in support of deposed President Joseph Estrada. On May 1, 2001, the protesters stormed Malacañang Palace. He left the Senate when his term expired in 2004. In the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

held in May 2007, he was again elected to the Senate. Running as an

independent candidate An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have political views th ...

, he polled some 11.6 million votes, finishing 10th out of 37 candidates for 12 Senate vacancies. He took up his post on June 30. He was reelected during the 2013 elections, placing 12th with 13,211,424 votes, his fourth term. In June 2015, Justice Undersecretary Jose Justiniano amended the complaint against Senator Honasan for his alleged part in the

Pork Barrel Scam The Priority Development Assistance Fund scam, also called the PDAF scam or the pork barrel scam, is a political scandal involving the alleged misuse by several members of the Congress of the Philippines of their Priority Development Assistance ...

involving allegations of corrupt malversation of public funds. During the

2016 Philippine general election A general election in the Philippines took place on May 9, 2016, for executive and legislative branches for all levels of government – national, provincial, and local, except for the barangay officials. At the top of the ballot was the elect ...

s, Honasan was

's running mate under the

United Nationalist Alliance The United Nationalist Alliance (UNA; ) is a political party in the Philippines. It was created as a multi-party electoral alliance replacing the former United Opposition (UNO) coalition for the 2013 midterm elections, before it was launche ...

party. Honasan placed 6th in the vice presidential race, garnering only 788,881 or 1.92% of votes.

Information and Communications Technology Secretary

On November 22, 2018, President Duterte appointed Honasan as secretary of

. Acting Secretary Eliseo Rio Jr. held the position until the end of Honasan's Senate term. Honasan was sworn into the office on July 1, 2019 and confirmed by the

Commission on Appointments The Commission on Appointments ( fil, Komisyon sa Paghirang, abbreviated as CA) is a constitutional body which confirms or rejects certain political appointments made by the President of the Philippines. The current commission was created by th ...

on September 11, 2019. In January 2020, the Department was flagged by the

Commission on Audit of the Philippines Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anothe ...

for worth of cash advances of confidential funds under Honasan. Undersecretary of Operations Eliseo Rio Jr. also questioned the cash advances as he resigned from his position. Secretary Honasan and Undersecretary Rio later issued a joint statement to state that the confidential expenses were "lawful and legitimate" and that "Undersecretary Rio’s resignation was due to personal reasons, and not due to any rift with the Secretary, nor to any anomaly in the Confidential Expense."

2022 Senate bid

On October 8, 2021, Honasan filed his Certificate of Candidacy to run once again for senator in

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

, effectively ending his time as Secretary of Information and Communications Technology. His candidacy was endorsed by President Rodrigo Duterte, making him part of the

PDP–Laban Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (), abbreviated as PDP–Laban, is a democratic socialist political party in the Philippines founded in 1982. It was part of the country's ruling party alliance from 1986 to 1992 under the administrat ...

senatorial slate, although he was an independent. He was also named to the senatorial slate of tickets led by presidential aspirants

and

Bongbong Marcos Ferdinand "Bongbong" Romualdez Marcos Jr. ( , , ; born September 13, 1957), commonly referred to by the initials PBBM or BBM, is a Filipino politician who is the 17th and current president of the Philippines. He previously served as a sena ...

(under

UniTeam Alliance The UniTeam Alliance is an electoral alliance in the Philippines formed to support the candidacies of Bongbong Marcos and Sara Duterte in the 2022 presidential and vice-presidential elections and their allies in the 2022 Philippine general el ...

), respectively. However, he lost his bid with 10,668,886 votes, ranking 18th out of the 12 seats up for election. He conceded from the race on May 11, 2022.

In popular culture

*Portrayed by veteran comedian Chiquito in the 1988 comedy film ''Gorio Punasan, Rebel Driver''. (Instead Honasan's name, comedy title of Gringo Honasan to replacing as Gorio Punasan in the film) *Parodied in the 1987 movie ''Kumander Gringa'' starring

Roderick Paulate Roderick Mendenilla Paulate (, born April 4, 1960) is a Filipino former actor, TV host, comedian and politician. Paulate had previously hosted TV shows like ''Vilma On 7'', ''Tonight With Dick & Carmi'', ''Magandang Tanghali Bayan'', and ''The ...

. *Portrayed by character actor

Rez Cortez Res Septimo Cortez (born January 4, 1956), better known as Rez Cortez, is a Filipino film and television actor and assistant director. Acting career Cortez's film career began in 1974, when he was introduced in ''Daigdig ng Sindak at Lagim''. ...

in the 1988 true to life drama TV film ''

A Dangerous Life ''The Four Day Revolution'' (broadcast in the Philippines as ''A Dangerous Life'') is a 1988 Australian television film directed by Robert Markowitz and written by David Williamson. The story is about the journey and the love affair of an America ...

''. *Portrayed by action star

Robin Padilla Robinhood Ferdinand Cariño Padilla (; born November 23, 1969), known professionally as Robin Padilla, is a Filipino politician, television personality, martial artist, actor and director currently serving as a Senator of the Philippines since ...

in the 1994 true to life action drama film ''Col. Billy Bibit, RAM''.

References

External links

Official campaign site of Gregorio HonasanGringo Honasan, Election 2016 Data
{{DEFAULTSORT:Honasan, Gregorio 1948 births Living people Bicolano politicians Candidates in the 2016 Philippine vice-presidential election Duterte administration cabinet members Independent politicians in the Philippines People from Baguio People from Marikina People of the People Power Revolution Philippine Army personnel Philippine Military Academy alumni Philippine Military Academy Class of 1971 Recipients of the Distinguished Conduct Star Reform the Armed Forces Movement Secretaries of Information and Communications Technology of the Philippines Senators of the 10th Congress of the Philippines Senators of the 11th Congress of the Philippines Senators of the 12th Congress of the Philippines Senators of the 14th Congress of the Philippines Senators of the 15th Congress of the Philippines Senators of the 16th Congress of the Philippines Senators of the 17th Congress of the Philippines United Nationalist Alliance politicians