Antonio "Tony" Herrera Cerilles (born October 7, 1948) is a former Governor of Zamboanga del Sur,

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, from June 30, 2010, until June 30, 2019. He ran and lost during the 2019 elections for Representative of the 2nd Legislative District of Zamboanga del Sur to Bayog Mayor Leonardo L. Babasa, Jr. Prior to the governorship, he was a member of the

House of Representatives of the Philippines The House of Representatives (; '','' thus commonly referred to as ''Kamara'') is the lower house of Congress of the Philippines, Congress, the bicameral legislature of the Philippines, with the Senate of the Philippines as the upper house. The ...

as the representative of the second district of Zamboanga del Sur. He was succeeded in Congress by his wife Aurora Enerio-Cerilles as congressman who also preceded him in the governorship of the province. He also served as the Secretary of

Department of Environment and Natural Resources The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR; ) is the Executive Departments of the Philippines, executive department of the Philippine government responsible for the conservation, management, development, and proper use of the cou ...

during the tenure of then

Philippine The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

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: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Joseph Estrada Joseph Ejercito Estrada (; born Jose Marcelo Ejercito; April 19, 1937), also known by the nickname Erap, is a Filipino politician and former actor, who served as the 13th president of the Philippines from 1998 until his resignation in 2001. ...

from 1998 to 2001.

Early life

Cerilles was born on October 7, 1948, in Manila to Vicente Cerilles and Josefina Herrera. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (UST; ), officially the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, The Catholic University of the Philippines or colloquially as ''Ustê'' (), is a Private university, private Catholic school, Catholic researc ...

in 1968 and his Bachelor of Laws degree from

University of the East The University of the East (), also known as UE, is a private university located in Manila, Philippines. Founded in 1946, business tycoon Lucio Tan acquired the university in 1990. UE was once labeled as the "largest university in Asia" when i ...

in 1972.

Membership

He is an active member of

Alpha Phi Omega Alpha Phi Omega (), commonly known as APO, but also A-Phi-O and A-Phi-Q, is a national Mixed-sex education, coeducational Service fraternities and sororities, service Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It is the largest College fraterniti ...

fraternity. He was the National President of JCI Senate Philippines 2012. He is also the National Senior Vice President of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines and the current Council Chairman of BSP Zamboanga del Sur-Pagadian City Council. He is also a member of various organizations including the Knights of Columbus, Council 8188 and the Parliamentary Government Foundation.

Career in the House of Representatives

Before being elected as a congressman, Cerilles was elected as a Regional Assemblyman of the Sanguniang Pampook of Region X,

Zamboanga City Zamboanga City, officially the City of Zamboanga (; ; Subanen languages, Subanen: ''Bagbenwa Sembwangan''; Sama–Bajaw languages, Sama: ''Lungsud Samboangan''; ; ; ) is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city i ...

from 1982 to 1987. He was elected as the representative of the second district of Zamboanga del Sur in 1987, 1992 and 1995. Among the laws he authored during this stint was House Bill No. 3950 now Republic Act No. 6975 otherwise known as the "Department of the Interior and Local Government Act of 1990," which established the

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under a Reorganized

Department of the Interior and Local Government The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG; ) is the executive department of the Philippine government responsible for promoting peace and order, ensuring public safety and strengthening local government capability aimed towards ...

and House Bill No. 9347 now Republic Act No. 8047 otherwise known as the "Book Publishing Industry Development Act," which formulated and implemented a National Book Policy and a National Book Development Plan. After serving as DENR Secretary from 1998–2001, he was elected again as a representative in 2004. He was one of the signatories of House Resolution 1109 calling for a constituent assembly to amend the Constitution.

Honors

A classroom inside Dalupan Building at

in Manila was renamed Secretary Antonio H. Cerilles Chamber being an alumnus of the UE College of Law.

References

, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Cerilles, Antonio Living people Governors of Zamboanga del Sur Lakas–CMD politicians 1948 births 20th-century Filipino lawyers University of Santo Tomas alumni University of the East alumni Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Zamboanga del Sur Secretaries of environment and natural resources of the Philippines Estrada administration cabinet members