Sarah Jane Ibañez Elago (born October 18, 1989) is a Filipino activist and politician who served as the representative for

Kabataan Party-list Kabataan, also known as the Kabataan Partylist (KPL, ) and formerly known as Ang Nagkakaisang Kabataan Para sa Sambayanan (ANAK ng BAYAN, ), is a partylist in the Philippines affiliated with the leftist political coalition Makabayan. It is curren ...

from 2016 to 2022. During her tenure, she was the youngest female member 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 ...

. A graduate of the

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 ...

, Elago served as the national president of the National Union of Students in the Philippines and was active in student activism. During her congressional tenure, she sat as a member of the House minority bloc and supported the franchise renewal for broadcast network ABS-CBN. After leaving Congress, Elago remained active in the

Makabayan Coalition Makabayang Koalisyon ng Mamamayan () or simply Makabayan is a coalition of twelve party-lists in the House of Representatives of the Philippines. It was founded on April 16, 2009. The founding assembly was held at the Bahay ng mga Alumni, UP Dil ...

and was among those who filed the second impeachment complaint against Vice President

Sara Duterte Sara Zimmerman Duterte-Carpio (, ; born May 31, 1978), commonly known as Inday Sara, is a Filipino lawyer and politician who is the 15th and current vice president of the Philippines. She is the third female vice president (after Gloria Macap ...

. In 2025, she unsuccessfully sought a return to the House of Representatives as the first nominee of the

Gabriela Women's Party The Gabriela Women's Party (General Assembly Binding Women for Reform, Integrity, Equality, Leadership and Action), or simply GABRIELA, is a progressive Filipino political party that advocates for women's issues and represents Filipino women in ...

, which lost its sole seat in the lower chamber. After the registration of

Duterte Youth The Duterte Youth, officially the Duty to Energize the Republic through the Enlightenment of the Youth Sectoral Party-list Organization, is a Filipino right-wing youth organization that supports former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte and ...

was revoked in June 2025, media outlets observed that Gabriela could regain its Congress.

Early life and education

Elago was born on October 18, 1989, in

Las Piñas Las Piñas (, officially the City of Las Piñas (), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of ...

. As a child, she stuttered and found it difficult to speak to others. She learned to manage the disability by joining drama clubs, singing, and reading out loud. She would eventually study at the

, graduating cum laude with a degree in Bachelor of Science in Hotel, Restaurant, and Institution Management. While in UP, she was a member of The UP Repertory Company (UP Rep), UP Kontemporaryong Gamelan Pilipino (), a theater arts performing group, and a student councilor for two years. Elago was also involved in youth sectoral politics and activism, becoming a coordinator for Youth Vote Philippines and Rock the Vote Philippines, an officer in the International Youth Council, and a member of the Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights - National Youth Committee in 2013. She was also the national president of the National Union of Students of the Philippines, and a national convenor for the Rise for Education Alliance and Youth for Accountability and Truth Now.

House of Representatives (2016–2022)

Elections

In her campaign for

in 2016, Elago campaigned for the advancement of a "youth agenda", as well as for free education, free internet access, and gender equality. She was re-elected in 2019.

Tenure

During her tenure, Elago served as a member of the minority for 12 House committees, including Youth and Sports Development, Women and Gender Equality, and Higher and Technical Education. During the

School Strike for Climate Fridays for Future (FFF), also known as the School Strike for Climate ( ), is an international movement of school students who skip Friday classes to participate in demonstrations to demand climate change mitigation, action from political le ...

in May 2019, Elago joined youth protesters calling for a rejection of government proposals that could have detrimental effects on the environment. Elago supported the franchise renewal for broadcast network ABS-CBN. She was also among the representatives who opposed a bill allowing full foreign ownership in power, transport, and communications sectors in the Philippines.

Post-congressional career

On December 4, 2024, Elago and 74 others filed the second

impeachment Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In Eur ...

complaint against Vice President

, submitting one article of impeachment: betrayal of public trust.

2025 Philippine House of Representatives campaign

On October 4, 2024, the

filed its certification of nomination and acceptance for the 2025 election, which listed Elago as its first nominee, followed by Cathy Estabillo and Jean Lindo. The party pursued a progressive platform of enshrining gender equality and rights for the LGBTQ+ community, expressing support for the

SOGIE Equality Bill The Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Expression (SOGIE, ) Equality Bill, also known as the Anti-Discrimination Bill (ADB), is a series of House and Senate bills that were introduced in the 17th, 18th, and 19th Congress of the Philippines ...

and divorce legislation. During the campaign, Elago spoke in favor of decriminalizing

abortion in the Philippines Abortion in the Philippines is constitutionally prohibited. The constitutional provision that " he Stateshall equally protect the life of the mother and the life of the unborn from conception" was crafted by the Constitutional Commission which ...

and including transgender women in

Women's History Month Women's History Month is an annual observance to highlight the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. Celebrated during March in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, corresponding with Internationa ...

celebrations. On March 26, 2025, her party filed a complaint against the

National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) is a task force organized by the government of the Philippines in 2018 as part of its " Whole-of-Nation approach" to respond to and raise awareness about ongoing communist ...

(NTF-ELCAC) before the

Commission on Elections An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

(COMELEC), citing incidents of red-tagging and gender-based sexual harassment from the task force.

Jonathan Malaya Jonathan E. Malaya is a Filipino writer, author, businessman, and public official who is currently the Assistant Director General of the National Security Council. Prior to joining the NSC, he was undersecretary of the Department of Interior and ...

, the head of the

National Security Council A national security council (NSC) is usually an executive branch governmental body responsible for coordinating policy on national security issues and advising chief executives on matters related to national security. An NSC is often headed by a n ...

, derided the complaint, defending the NTF-ELCAC and insisting that "former rebels" are responsible for the incidents. In the May 12 election, Gabriela won no seats, leaving the organization without representation for the first time since its founding as a party-list in 2003. They received 0.61% of the vote, placing 55th and nearly halving their vote share from 2022. Following the election, the party urged the COMELEC to conduct a manual recount, citing discrepancies in vote counting. Despite their loss, media outlets observed that with Gabriela's vote share, it was still possible for Gabriela to obtain a seat the disqualification of a winning party-list. Following the election, the proclamation of two winning party-lists—

and

Bagong Henerasyon The Bagong Henerasyon Party-List, also known as BH Party List is a political organization which has party-list representation in the House of Representatives of the Philippines. The political party participated in the 2019 Philippine elections, ...

(BH)—was suspended due to ongoing cases against them. The latter's case was dismissed on June 1, while the registration of the former was cancelled on June 18. In response to the initial ruling on Duterte Youth, Gabriela urged the COMELEC to expedite their case and proclaim them as a winning party as soon as possible.

Public profile

Elago was the youngest female member of the House of Representatives during her tenure, having served from the ages of 26 to 33. Besides being the youngest lawmaker, she is also the poorest lawmaker with a net worth of

₱ The Philippine peso sign (₱) is the currency symbol used for the Philippine peso, the official currency of the Philippines. The symbol resembles a Latin script, Latin letter P with two horizontal strokes. It differs from the currency symbol u ...

85,400 based on her 2018 Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN). She was also the poorest in 2017 with a net worth of

75,800.

Personal life

Elago is the founding president of the Philippine Stuttering Association, an advocacy group that supports people who stutter. She has also shown support to breast cancer warriors and survivors by donating her hair.

Electoral history

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Elago, Sarah Living people University of the Philippines Diliman alumni Party-list members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines Women members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines Makabayan politicians 21st-century Filipino politicians Anti-revisionists Youth activists Filipino anti-fascists Filipino women activists 21st-century Filipino women politicians Politicians from Metro Manila 1989 births