Benjamin Cueto "Benjie" Agarao Jr. (born October 1, 1957) 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 ...

politician and businessman who served as Member of the

Philippine House of Representatives The House of Representatives of the Philippines ( fil, Kapulungan ng mga Kinatawan ng Pilipinas, italic=unset, ''Kamara'' or ''Kamara de Representantes'' from the Spanish word ''cámara'', meaning "chamber") is the lower house of Congress, th ...

from

Laguna Laguna (Italian and Spanish for lagoon) may refer to: People * Abe Laguna (born 1992), American DJ known as Ookay * Andrés Laguna (1499–1559), Spanish physician, pharmacologist, and botanist * Ana Laguna (born 1955), Spanish-Swedish ballet d ...

4th District Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

from 2004 until 2007, and from 2013 until 2022. He also served a board member of Laguna from the same district from 1992 to 1995 and from 2001 to 2004.

Political career

Agarao served as the board member of

on the 4th district from 1992 to 1995 and 2001 to 2004. He served as the congressman Laguna's 4th congressional district for 5 terms, from 2004 to 2007, and from 2013 to 2022, under the parties

Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino The Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino () is a centre-right political party in the Philippines. There are no results available for the 2004 election for the House of Representatives, but according to the website of the House, the party held 7 out ...

(LDP), the

Liberal Party of the Philippines The Liberal Party (Filipino and Spanish: ''Partido Liberal''), abbreviated as the LP, is a liberal political party in the Philippines. Founded on January 19, 1946, by Senate President Manuel Roxas, Senate President Pro-Tempore Elpidio Quirino ...

(LP), and PDP-Laban. He ran for mayor of

Santa Cruz, Laguna Santa Cruz, officially the Municipality of Santa Cruz ( tgl, Bayan ng Santa Cruz), is a first class municipality and capital of the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 123,574 people. Santa C ...

, with PDP-Laban, losing to the incumbent Egay San Luis. Agarao transferred from the party PDP-Laban to the party

Partido Federal ng Pilipinas Partido Federal ng Pilipinas ( en, Federal Party of the Philippines; PFP) is a national political party in the Philippines. It is chaired by Bongbong Marcos, president of the Philippines who won by a landslide in the 2022 election. During the r ...

(PFP).

Controversies

In May 2014, Agarao was involved in a controversy regarding a multi-billion-peso scam regarding the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), however, Agarao denied the alleged "accusation". In an election campaign for the 2016 elections, the

held a rally, also celebrating the birthday of Agarao. The senator

Francis Tolentino Francis N Tolentino (; is a Filipino politician and lawyer serving as a Senator since 2019. He served as Chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) from 2010 to 2015 and was the Mayor of Tagaytay from 1995 to 2004. For ...

invited the dance group Play Girls to entertain the guests, the invitation caused a controversy about the Play Girls.

Personal life

Agarao was born on October 1, 1957, in

, he is married to Estelita Agarao, having 4 children with her. Including Benjo Agarao and Jam Agarao, Jam is the current congresswoman for Laguna's 4th congressional district.

References

Living people Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Laguna (province) 21st-century Filipino politicians Partido Federal ng Pilipinas politicians PDP–Laban politicians Liberal Party (Philippines) politicians Nationalist People's Coalition politicians 1957 births {{Philippines-politician-stub