Isagani Sybico Amatong (born October 19, 1940) is a Filipino politician from the province of

Zamboanga del Norte Zamboanga del Norte (Cebuano language, Cebuano: ''Amihanang Zamboanga''; Subanon language, Subanon: ''Utara Sembwangan''; ), officially the Province of Zamboanga del Norte, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines situated w ...

. He last served as

Congressman A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The t ...

in 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 ...

representing the 3rd legislative district of Zamboanga del Norte.

Early years

Isagani Sybico Amatong was born in

Dipolog Dipolog (), officially the City of Dipolog (; Subanen languages, Subanen: ''Gembagel G'benwa Dipuleg/Bagbenwa Dipuleg''; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, prov ...

, Province of Zamboanga, on October 19, 1940, to Amando Borja Amatong and Felicidad Mabanag Sybico who were founders of

Andres Bonifacio College Andres Bonifacio College (ABCollege or ABC) is a community college institution in the Philippines. Its campus is located at College Park, Brgy. Miputak, Dipolog. ABCollege offers course programs from kindergarten to postgraduate levels. Alumni an ...

. He graduated elementary from Miputak Elementary School, and finished her secondary education at Andres Bonifacio College as a valedictorian. He obtained his

pre-medicine Pre-medical (often referred to as pre-med) is an educational track that undergraduate students mostly in the United States pursue prior to becoming medical students. It involves activities that prepare a student for medical school, such as pre-med ...

from

University of the Philippines Manila The University of the Philippines Manila (UPM; ) is a Higher education in the Philippines#State universities and colleges, public research university located in Ermita, Manila, Ermita, Manila, Philippines. It is the oldest of eight constituent ...

in 1960; earned his

Bachelor of Arts in Economics A Bachelor of Economics (BEc or BEcon)Bureau of Labor StatisticsHow to Become an Economist/ref> is an academic degree, awarded to students who have completed specialised undergraduate studies in economics. Variants include the "Bachelor of Econom ...

and

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

from

University of the Philippines Diliman The University of the Philippines Diliman (also called UPD; ), also referred to as UP Diliman, is a State university and college (Philippines), public, coeducational, Research university, research university located in Diliman, Quezon City, Ph ...

in 1964 and 1970 respectively. In 1970, he earned his

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

degree from

, and then became a full-fledged lawyer the same year. He also finished his Master of Laws in UP Diliman.

Career

Prior to his entry into politics, Amatong was a law associate. He also worked as a management consultant, a financial comptroller and trustee in Andres Bonifacio College, and founder-publisher for the Mindanao Observer. In 1984, he was appointed as City Councilor of Dipolog after the death of his brother,

Jacobo Amatong Jacobo Sybico Amatong (October 11, 1936 – September 24, 1984) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, and newspaper publisher from the province of Zamboanga del Norte. He was best known for founding the Mindanao Observer, a community newspaper whi ...

. He would then be appointed by former President

Corazon Aquino María Corazón "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipino politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines and the first woman president in the country, from Presidency of Corazon ...

to serve as Officer-in-Charge Governor of Zamboanga del Norte from 1986, until being elected as such in 1988 and 1992. After leaving the provincial capitol in 1995, he ran again for, won and served as Governor from 1998 to 2004. From there, he briefly retired from politics. Amatong made his run for Governor in 2010 but was defeated. In 2013, he ran for Congressman of the 3rd District of Zamboanga del Norte and won. He would later on run for and win re-election bids in 2016 and

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

House of Representatives

In the 18th Congress, he is currently the minority leader of the House Committee on Accounts, and a member of the House Committees on Appropriations, Agriculture and Food, and Basic Education and Culture.

Notable works

In 2017, Amatong introduced House Bill No. 5040 in the House of Representatives seeking to carve out a new province from Zamboanga del Norte. The proposed Zamboanga Hermosa province was to consist of 12 municipalities and 2 legislative districts that make up the 3rd legislative district of Zamboanga del Norte: Baliguian, Godod, Gutalac, Kalawit, Labason, Leon B. Postigo, Liloy (its proposed capital), Salug, Sibuco, Siocon, Sirawai, and Tampilisan. However, the bill ultimately did not pass the 16th congress. In 2020, House Bill No. 4226 which Congressman Amatong authored in 2019 was approved by the House Committee on Basic Education. HB No. 4226 seeks to convert Siocon National High School in the far-flung municipality of Siocon into Siocon Science High School. This measured would be passed in to law as Republic Act No. 11629, and was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte in December 2021.

Recognitions

In 2014, Amatong was one of the awardees of the UPAA Distinguished Awardees by the University of the Philippines Alumni Association for his role in Good Governance.

Electoral history

Personal life

Amatong is married to Anita Alto Amatong, and have three children together including Adrian Michael.

References

External links

Isagani Amatong, House of Representatives
, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Amatong, Isagani Isagani 1940 births Living people Liberal Party (Philippines) politicians People from Dipolog University of the Philippines alumni University of the Philippines Diliman alumni Filipino city and municipal councilors Governors of Zamboanga del Norte Politicians from Zamboanga del Norte Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Zamboanga del Norte