Conrado Masonsong Estrella III (born September 12, 1960) 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 serving as the Secretary of Agrarian Reform since June 30, 2022. He was previously one of the deputy speakers of the 18th Congress under the leadership of Speaker

Alan Peter Cayetano Alan Peter Schramm Cayetano (Tagalog pronunciation: ajɛˈtano born October 28, 1970) is a Filipino politician, lawyer, and diplomat serving as a Senator since 2022 and previously from 2007 to 2017. He was the Senate Minority Leader from 201 ...

and

Lord Allan Velasco Lord Allan Jay Quinto Velasco (born November 9, 1977) is a Filipino politician and lawyer who served as the Speaker of the House of Representatives from October 12, 2020 to June 2022. He is concurrently serving as the Representative of Marin ...

Early life

Estrella was born on September 12, 1960 in

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital city, capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is Cities of the Philippines#Independent cities, highly urbanize ...

to former Congressman Robert B. Estrella Sr. and Ma. Teresita Masonsong-Estrella. He is the grandson of

Conrado Estrella Sr. Conrado F. Estrella Sr. (August 19, 1917 – May 31, 2011) was a Filipino politician. He served as the Governor of Pangasinan from 1954 to 1963 and Secretary and Minister of the Department of Agrarian Reform from 1971 to 1986. He was the grandf ...

, a former governor of

Pangasinan Pangasinan, officially the Province of Pangasinan ( pag, Luyag/Probinsia na Pangasinan, ; ilo, Probinsia ti Pangasinan; tl, Lalawigan ng Pangasinan), is a coastal province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region of Luzon. Its c ...

and Secretary/Minister of Agrarian Reform during the Marcos Sr. administration.

Education

He graduated from

De La Salle University De La Salle University ( fil, Pamantasang De La Salle or Unibersidad ng De La Salle), also referred to as DLSU, De La Salle or La Salle, is a private, Catholic coeducational research university run by the Institute of the Brothers of the Chris ...

with a degree in history and political science.

Political career

His early political career began in the

Kabataang Barangay Sangguniang Kabataan (abbreviated as SK; ) is a council meant to represent the youth in each barangay in the Philippines. It was put "on hold", but not quite abolished, prior to the 2013 barangay elections. In January 2016, the Sanggunia ...

(KB) where he became the president of the provincial KB federation of

, chairman of the regional KB federation of

Ilocos Region Ilocos Region ( ilo, Rehion/Deppaar ti Ilocos; pag, Sagor na Baybay na Luzon/Rehiyon Uno; tl, Rehiyon ng Ilocos) is an administrative region of the Philippines, designated as Region I, occupying the northwestern section of Luzon and part of ...

, and member of the KB National Council. From 1980 to 1985, he was a member of the

Pangasinan Provincial Board The Pangasinan Provincial Board is the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (provincial legislature) of the Philippine province of Pangasinan. The members are elected via plurality-at-large voting: the province is divided into six districts, each having tw ...

. Estrella was elected to the

House of Representatives of the Philippines 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, the ...

in 1987 and 1992, representing

Pangasinan's 6th congressional district Pangasinan's 6th congressional district is one of the six congressional districts of the Philippines in the province of Pangasinan Pangasinan, officially the Province of Pangasinan ( pag, Luyag/Probinsia na Pangasinan, ; ilo, Probinsia t ...

. In the 8th Congress, he ran under the

Kilusang Bagong Lipunan The New Society Movement ( fil, Kilusang Bagong Lipunan, KBL), formerly named the New Society Movement of United Nationalists, Liberals, et cetera ( fil, Kilusang Bagong Lipunan ng Nagkakaisang Nacionalista, Liberal, at iba pa, KBLNNL), is a R ...

, was one of the youngest elected representative at age 26 and was a member of the opposition. It was reported that his first campaign was funded by

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martia ...

. In the 9th Congress, he was the vice-chairman of the House Committees on Accounts and

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism ...

. In 1994, he was offered by then-President

Fidel V. Ramos Fidel Valdez Ramos (, ; March 18, 1928 – July 31, 2022), popularly known as FVR and Eddie Ramos, was a Filipino general and politician who served as the 12th president of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. He was the only career military ...

to head 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 gov ...

in an attempt to block his reelection bid where he would run against Ranjit Shahani, Ramos' nephew and son of then-Senator

Leticia Ramos-Shahani Leticia Valdez Ramos-Shahani (September 30, 1929 – March 20, 2017) was a Filipina senator, diplomat, and writer. She was the younger sister of Fidel V. Ramos, the 12th president of the Philippines. Early life She was born on September 3 ...

. The sports community, however, did not approve of the plan prompting Ramos to appoint Philip Juico instead. Estrella ultimately withdrew from the race and was later appointed to the

Manila Economic and Cultural Office The Manila Economic and Cultural OfficeIn .In tl, Tanggapang Pang-ekonomiya at Pangkultura ng Maynila. Also known as the Philippine Representative Office in Taiwan(; tl, link=no, Tanggapan ng Kinatawan ng Pilipinas sa Taiwan). is the representa ...

where he served as one of its directors from 1995 to 1998. During the Estrada presidency, he became the administrator of the

National Electrification Administration The National Electrification Administration (NEA; fil, Pambansang Pangasiwaan ng Elektripikasyon) is a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) attached to the Department of Energy of the Philippines tasked in the full implementation ...

. Estrella returned 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 ...

as the representative of the 6th district of Pangasinan in 2001 and served until 2010. During the

12th Congress 12th Congress may refer to: * 12th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (1982) * 12th Congress of the Philippines (2001–2004) * 12th Congress of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) (1923) * 12th National Congress of the Chinese ...

, he was the chairman of the House Special Committee on the North Luzon Growth Quadrangle. In 2013, he became the party-list representative of

Abono Abono (from Ilocano for 'fertilizer') is a political organization in the Philippines which had party-list representation in the House of Representatives of the Philippines. In the May 14, 2007 election An election is a formal group de ...

succeeding his brother Robert Raymond Estrella. He was among the 23 representatives linked to the pork barrel scam by a ''

Philippine Daily Inquirer The ''Philippine Daily Inquirer'' (''PDI''), or simply the ''Inquirer'', is an English-language newspaper in the Philippines. Founded in 1985, it is often regarded as the Philippines' newspaper of record. The newspaper is the most awarded bro ...

'' exposé in 2013. The National Bureau of Investigation subsequently named Estrella and his brother in its 2015 report to the Ombudsman among those allegedly involved in malversation, direct bribery, and other graft and corrupt practices. That same year, he was served numerous notices of disallowances from the Commission on Audit with regards to the use of his

Priority Development Assistance Fund The Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) was a discretionary fund in the Philippines available to members of Congress. Originally established as the Countrywide Development Fund (CDF) in 1990, it was designed to allow legislators to fund sma ...

to implement livelihood projects worth ₱64million in Pangasinan coursed through questionable

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...

s. He was later excluded from liability by the commission in 2018 due to a court decision which declared his signatures in the documents facilitating the transactions to be forgeries. On July 10, 2020, he was one of the 70 representatives who voted to reject the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN. And on June 8, 2022, he accepted the offer of President

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 ...

to head the

Department of Agrarian Reform The Department of Agrarian Reform ( fil, Kagawaran ng Repormang Pansakahan}, abbreviated as DAR or KRP) is an executive department of the Philippine government responsible for the redistribution of agrarian land in the Philippines The Ph ...

as its secretary after his grandfather,

who also became secretary from 1971 to 1986.

Personal life

Estrella married Sandra S. Romero on June 7, 1985 at the age of 24. The couple produced four children: Maria Sergia Susana, Conrado Andrew IV, Albert and Gilbert.Department of Agrarian Reform

Retrieved July 12, 2022.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Estrella 03, Conrado 1960 births Deputy Speakers of the House of Representatives of the Philippines People from Pangasinan Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Pangasinan Party-list members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines Living people Secretaries of Agrarian Reform of the Philippines Bongbong Marcos administration cabinet members Estrada administration personnel