Reynaldo Villar Umali (February 26, 1957 – January 7, 2021) was a Filipino politician who served 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 ...

from 2010 to 2019 representing the 2nd district of

Oriental Mindoro Oriental Mindoro (), officially the Province of Oriental Mindoro (), is a province in the Philippines located on the island of Mindoro under Mimaropa region in Luzon, about southwest of Manila. The province is bordered by the Verde Island P ...

. He ran for governor of Oriental Mindoro during the 2019 Philippine gubernatorial elections but lost to Humerlito Dolor.

Early life and education

Umali was born on February 26, 1957, 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 ...

to Alfonso Umali Sr., a governor of Oriental Mindoro, and Alberta Villar-Umali. He is the brother of Representatives Alfonso Umali and Ma. Victoria Umali of A Teacher Partylist. Umali attended

San Beda University San Beda University () is a private university, private Catholic coeducational basic and higher education institution run by the Order of Saint Benedict in San Miguel, Manila, San Miguel, Manila, Philippines. It was founded by the Benedictines ...

for his elementary and secondary education. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics degree from Ateneo de Manila University and his Bachelor of Laws degree from Manuel L. Quezon University. He also studied at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

where he obtained a certificate program in Executive Management. He passed the

Philippine Bar Examination The Philippine Bar Examinations is the professional licensure examination for lawyers in the Philippines. The exam is exclusively administered by the Supreme Court of the Philippines through the Supreme Court Bar Examination Committee. History ...

in 1988 and was a member of the Lambda Rho Beta fraternity.

Career

Umali was a practicing lawyer before he entered government service. His first government job was at the

National Economic and Development Authority The Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev; ) is the executive department of the Philippine government responsible for national and regional economic policy, development, monitoring, and planning. DEPDev also oversees the pl ...

where he worked as an economist and division chief. He also worked for former Representative Gerardo Cabochan of

Caloocan Caloocan, officially the City of Caloocan (; ), is a highly urbanized city in Metro Manila, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 1,661,584 people making it the fourth-most populous city in the Philippines. Caloo ...

as his legislative chief of staff. He served as the director of the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council Secretariat from 1990 to 1992. From 2005 to 2010, he worked at the

Bureau of Customs The Bureau of Customs (BoC or BOC; ) is a Philippine government agency that is responsible for the collecting of customs, customs duties, excise duties, and other indirect taxes in the Philippines. It is part of the Department of Finance (Philip ...

as its legal office chief and as deputy commissioner. During his term as Customs Deputy Commissioner, he and his team drafted the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act. He was also the executive director of the bureau's Run After the Smugglers (RATS) program.

Congressman

Umali was first elected to Congress in 2010 as a

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 ...

candidate. He replaced his brother who was in his third consecutive term and was ineligible to run. During his term in the 15th Congress, he was the vice chairman of the House Committees on Constitutional Amendments, Good Governance and Public Accountability,

Justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

, and Ways and Means; and member of the Committees on Appropriations, Aquaculture and Fisheries Resources, Games and Amusements,

Information and Communications Technology Information and communications technology (ICT) is an extensional term for information technology (IT) that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals) and computer ...

, National Cultural Communities,

Social Services Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. Also available amachine-converted HTML They may be provided by individuals, private and i ...

, Suffrage and Electoral Reforms, and

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

. He also pushed for the impeachments of former

Ombudsman An ombudsman ( , also ) is a government employee who investigates and tries to resolve complaints, usually through recommendations (binding or not) or mediation. They are usually appointed by the government or by parliament (often with a sign ...

Merceditas Gutierrez Ma. Merceditas Consunji Navarro Gutierrez (born September 24, 1948) is a Filipino government official who is currently serving as member of the board of trustees of Government Service Insurance System (GSIS). Following her graduation from the ...

and Chief Justice

Renato Corona Renato Tereso Antonio Coronado Corona (October 15, 1948 – April 29, 2016) was a Filipino judge who was the 23rd Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines from 2010 to 2012. He served as an associate justice after being appointe ...

. During the Corona impeachment trial, he was a member of the prosecution team and was the lead prosecutor of the 8th article of impeachment. Umali ran for a second term in 2013 again under the Liberal Party where he became the deputy spokesperson of the party's National Political Council. During the 16th Congress, he was chair of the House Committee on Energy and co-chair of the Joint Congressional Power Commission. In the 2016 House of Representatives elections, Umali still ran under the Liberal Party. However, in July 2016, he left the party and joined the ruling

PDP–Laban The Partido Demokratiko Pilipino (PDP, ) is a populist political party in the Philippines founded in 1982. It was previously known as Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP–Laban) from 1983 to 2024 as a result of a merger with L ...

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 ...

Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the first Philippine president from Mindanao, and is the oldest person to assum ...

. During the 17th Congress, he was the chair of the House Committee on Justice that tackled the impeachment proceedings of then-Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and the investigation regarding the New Bilibid Prison drug trafficking scandal. Being the Justice Committee chair, he also served as an ''ex-officio'' member of the

Judicial and Bar Council The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC; ) of the Philippines is a Constitution of the Philippines, constitutionally-created body that recommends appointees for vacancies that may arise in the composition of the Supreme Court of the Philippines, Supr ...

. After serving three consecutive terms in Congress, Umali was barred from running another term. In the 2019 gubernatorial elections, he ran as governor of Oriental Mindoro under the

Partido Federal ng Pilipinas The Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP; ) is a national political party in the Philippines. It is chaired by Bongbong Marcos, president of the Philippines, who won in the 2022 election. During the run-up to the 2022 general election, the UniTea ...

but lost to PDP–Laban candidate Humerlito Dolor. And Antonio Perez Jr.

Personal life and death

Umali was married to Ma. Linda Tantoco-Umali and had six children. On December 12, 2020, Umali went for a medical check-up following previous visits that had diagnosed him with having

fatty liver disease Fatty liver disease (FLD), also known as hepatic steatosis and steatotic liver disease (SLD), is a condition where excess fat builds up in the liver. Often there are no or few symptoms. Occasionally there may be tiredness or pain in the upper r ...

. During that check-up, Umali tested positive 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 ...

and was also found to have Stage 3

liver cancer Liver cancer, also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy, is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary in which the cancer starts in the liver, or it can be liver metastasis, or secondar ...

. After a few days, his condition aggravated into Stage 4 liver cancer and he was later admitted to the

intensive care unit An intensive care unit (ICU), also known as an intensive therapy unit or intensive treatment unit (ITU) or critical care unit (CCU), is a special department of a hospital or health care facility that provides intensive care medicine. An inten ...

on December 21. On December 26, he was intubated and on the morning of January 7, 2021, he went into

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...

and died.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Umali, Reynaldo Villar 1957 births 2021 deaths 20th-century Filipino lawyers San Beda University alumni Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Oriental Mindoro Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines Liberal Party (Philippines) politicians Partido Demokratiko Pilipino politicians Partido Federal ng Pilipinas politicians