Michael Tan Defensor (, born June 30, 1969) is a Filipino politician who most recently served as the Party-list Representative for Anakalusugan from 2019 to 2022. He is also the CEO of Pax Libera Mining, Inc. Defensor began his political career in

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read and pronounced in Filipino language, Filipino as Kyusi), is the richest and List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 c ...

, where he was a member of the city council from 1992 to 1995. He was elected as representative of the city's 3rd district in 1995. In congress, he was a member of the " Spice Boys", a group of young congressmen who led the efforts to impeach President Joseph Estrada. The impeachment trial and widescale protests of the Second EDSA Revolution resulted in Estrada's resignation and Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's accession to the presidency. Defensor went on to serve various positions in the Arroyo administration: chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, and Malacañang Chief of Staff. He was also appointed to Ninoy Aquino International Airport and Philippine National Railways. In 2019, he was elected again to the House of Representatives. He was a leading figure among the 70 representatives who voted to deny the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, he promoted and distributed the antiparasitic drug ivermectin as a prophylaxis and treatment for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

, despite the lack of scientific evidence supporting its efficacy. Defensor unsuccessfully ran for Mayor of Quezon City in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

and 2022.

Education

He finished elementary, Bachelor of Arts in History, and Masters in

Public Administration Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...

at the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; ) is a Higher education in the Philippines#State universities and colleges, state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by List of Philippine laws, Re ...

where he became a member of the UP Alpha Sigma Fraternity. He finished his secondary education at Niles McKinley High School in Niles, Ohio. He is married to Julie Rose Tactacan Defensor.

Political career

Quezon City councilor

Defensor was elected as a

councilor from the third district in the 1992 elections at the age of 23, making him the youngest member of that body. He received the Manuel Quezon Bantayog Award for Most Outstanding QC Councilor for the year 1994.

Congressman

Defensor ran for congressman of the third district of

against reelectionist Dennis Roldan in the 1995 election, subsequently winning and becoming the youngest congressman at the time. Though he ran under the party of Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino, he switched to the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

in June 1995, a month before the 10th Congress convened. He won reelection in 1998.

Estrada impeachment

Defensor was part of the Spice Boys of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

that spearheaded the filing of the impeachment case against then-president Joseph Estrada.

Arroyo cabinet

After Edsa II, Defensor was appointed as Secretary of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. He held that post until August 2004 when he was appointed Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. In the 2004 presidential election, he served as the official campaign spokesperson of President Arroyo. After his tenure as DENR Secretary he was appointed Presidential

Chief of Staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

. He resigned that post on February 10, 2007, to campaign for a post in the senate. In June 2008 he was appointed head of Ninoy Aquino International Airport International Passenger Terminal 3 (NAIA-3) by virtue of the June 9, Executive Order No. 732 (creating the Presidential Task Force on the NAIA-3 that was "mandated to ensure the immediate opening and operation of Terminal III.") The order provides for the NAIA-3 opening based on decisions of the Supreme Court and applicable laws. On October 9, 2008, Defensor was named acting chairman of the Philippine National Railways (PNR).

Senate candidacy

Defensor was among the first to file for candidacy for the senate on February 12, 2007. Prior to filing, one of his campaign proposals was to temporarily release deposed former president Joseph Estrada from his arrest while his trial at the Sandiganbayan was ongoing, prompting criticism from prosecutors at the trial who called it a "politician's gimmick". He employed popular gossip show host Boy Abunda as his campaign manager. He was named to the TEAM Unity coalition backed by the Arroyo administration. However, he lost the race, placing 15th overall out of the 12 seats. Quezon City Mayoral Candidacy In the 2022 Philippine general election, Defensor ran for Mayor of Quezon City under the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas ( PFP). However, the incumbent Mayor Joy Belmonte emerged victorious in the election.

Representative for Anakalusugan

Denial of the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN

Defensor is one of the vocal opponents against the franchise renewal of

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN is a leading Philippine media and content company. It serves as the flagship media brand of ABS-CBN Corporation, a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation. Once the country's largest free-to-air television network, ABS-CBN has since ...

, together with Sagip Party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta and Cavite Seventh District Rep. Jesus Crispin Remulla. He is one of the 70 congressmen who voted "yes" to "kill" (deny) the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN, in favor of the report from the Technical Working Group. After claiming continuous victory, Defensor inititiated an online forum via Zoom and streamed live on

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

along with Marcoleta, Remulla, Yedda Romualdez, Journalie Payonan, Danilo Fernandez, Jonathan Sy-Alvarado, Inno Dy and Alfred delos Santos to discuss the fate of ABS-CBN. On July 18, 2020, they discussed the potential takeover of the ill-fated network due to alleged tampered torrens title, fine for the alleged illegal sale of ABS-CBN TV Plus for almost , and the total closure of Sky Cable as suggested by Rep. LRay Villafuerte. Meanwhile, pro-ABS-CBN advocate Christine Bersola-Babao slammed the forum and called the congresspersons as "evil", and Senate President

Tito Sotto Vicente Castelo Sotto, III (; born August 24, 1948), is a Filipino politician and television personality who is a Senate of the Philippines, senator-elect of the Philippines. He is the longest-serving senator in the history of the upper chamb ...

slammed the possible takeover of ABS-CBN by calling the compound as constitutionally protected.

BTS sa Kongreso

In January 2021, Defensor is announced to be part of the new bloc "''BTS sa Kongreso''" (named after the

K-pop K-pop (; an abbreviation of "Korean popular music") is a form of popular music originating in South Korea. It emerged in the 1990s as a form of youth subculture, with Korean musicians taking influence from Western Electronic dance music, danc ...

boy band group BTS of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

), a coalition group formed by Alan Peter Cayetano of the

of 18th Congress.

Ivermectin pantry

In April 2021, Defensor and SAGIP party-list representative Rodante Marcoleta initiated an "ivermectin pan-three" that distributes the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin, despite warnings from the World Health Organization on the lack of evidence to support ivermectin's efficacy against COVID-19.

Controversies

Involvement in ZTE-NBN corruption scandal

Mike Defensor, on July 4, 2008, filed 6-page perjury lawsuit Friday versus Rodolfo Noel Lozada for "testifying under

oath Traditionally, an oath (from Old English, Anglo-Saxon ', also a plight) is a utterance, statement of fact or a promise taken by a Sacred, sacrality as a sign of Truth, verity. A common legal substitute for those who object to making sacred oaths ...

that he had paid Lozada to change his statement that he was not kidnapped at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) when he arrived from Hong Kong at the height of the Philippine National Broadband Network controversy ( ZTE Zhong Xing Telecommunication Equipment Company Limited scandal)."

Laws authored by Mike Defensor

*RA 8313, An Act upgrading the Quirino Memorial Medical Center *RA 8976, An Act Requiring the Fortification of Processed Foods with Essential Micronutrients *An Act Creating the Department of Housing and Urban Development (co-author) *Dangerous Drugs Act of 1998 (co-author) *Act Amending the Magna Carta of the Disabled Persons (co-author) *Act Mandating the Nationwide Rabies Vaccination Program (co-author) *Technical Working Group (TWG) report recommending the denial of ABS-CBN's franchise application (co-author)

Other positions held

*Former Vice-Chairman, House of Representatives’ Committee on Legislative Franchises *Chief Executive Officer, Pax Libera Mining *Chair, NiHAO Mineral Resources Inc. (mining company) *Chair, Geograce Resources Philippines (mining company) *Chairperson, Kabataang Liberal ng Pilipinas *Chairperson, National Movement of Young Legislators *Chairperson, National Union of Students in the Philippines *Lord Chancellor, Alpha Sigma Fraternity *Program Director, Youth Council of the Philippines

Director, Petron Corporation

On December 4, 2007, Mike Defensor quietly joined to the board of directors of Petron Corporation with former budget secretary Emilia Boncodin. Defensor had been frequenting

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

. Boncodin stated that Defensor was invited to the board by Nicasio Alcantara, government's team head / Chair, Petron. Membership in the Petron board is a lucrative job, as Defensor was offered a board seat in sequestered United Coconut Planters Bank. Defeated administration candidate, former senator Ralph Recto joined the board of Union Bank, controlled by the Aboitiz family.

Notes

References

Mike Defensor official websiteMike Defensor websiteMike Defensor Facebook website (for AnaKalusugan Partylist)Profile of Michael T. Defensor
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Defensor, Michael 1969 births Living people Arroyo administration cabinet members Chairpersons of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council of the Philippines Heads of government agencies of the Philippines Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino politicians Lakas–CMD (1991) politicians Liberal Party (Philippines) politicians Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Quezon City Niles McKinley High School alumni Party-list members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines Politicians from Quezon City People's Reform Party politicians Partido Federal ng Pilipinas politicians Presidential chiefs of staff (Philippines) Quezon City Council members Reform PH Party politicians Secretaries of environment and natural resources of the Philippines