34 Facts About Franklin Drilon

Franklin Drilon had the longest tenure in the Senate of the Philippines, having served four non-consecutive terms overall: from 1995 to 2007 and 2010 to 2022.

Franklin Drilon has served thrice as president of the Senate: in 2000, from 2001 to 2006, and from 2013 to 2016.

Franklin Drilon served as Secretary of Labor and Employment, Secretary of Justice, and Executive Secretary in the administration of President Corazon Aquino.

Franklin Drilon became Secretary of Justice again during the administration of President Fidel V Ramos.

Franklin Drilon placed third in the 1969 Bar Exams and worked as a private practice lawyer before joining the government.

Franklin Drilon was born on November 28,1945, in Iloilo City, Iloilo and is the eldest son of Cesar Franklin Drilon Sr.

Franklin Drilon took his elementary education at the Baluarte Elementary School in Molo, Iloilo City, and graduated in 1957.

Franklin Drilon was a Bar Examiner on Labor and Social Legislation in the 1979 and 1984 bar examinations.

Franklin Drilon became the vice-president and governor of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines and the vice-president, Board member and treasurer of the Personnel Management Association of the Philippines.

Franklin Drilon served the government and public corporations through the following positions:.

In 1992, most of the Aquino cabinet were drafted for the Senate candidate line-up of the newly created party, Lakas Tao; Franklin Drilon opted to help President Aquino finish her term.

Franklin Drilon got the fourth highest number of votes in that Senate race.

Franklin Drilon was selected as Senate Majority Floor Leader the same year.

Franklin Drilon was removed the next month through a Senate revamp and Aquilino Pimentel Jr.

Franklin Drilon allowed Pimentel to occupy the Senate presidency until the end of the regular session in June 2001.

In 2003, administration coalition partner Liberal Party, to which President Arroyo's father, Diosdado Macapagal, served as chairman in the 1960s, invited Franklin Drilon to be its member.

Days later, Franklin Drilon was elected chairman of the political party.

Franklin Drilon had close contacts with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo since 2001 and actively supported her when she ran for a fresh mandate to occupy the office of the President.

Franklin Drilon has been a vocal critic of the NorthRail project, a Chinese government-backed project to overhaul Manila's decrepit railway system.

Franklin Drilon was hailed by all as the leading defender of the Senate's independence and of its constitutional duties.

Franklin Drilon likewise led the Senate in opposing moves by the House of Representatives to amend the Constitution that would supposedly shift the legislature to a unicameral legislature, abolishing the Senate.

In 2006, Franklin Drilon was succeeded as Senate President by Senator Manny Villar in accordance with a term-sharing agreement they forged in early 2004.

Franklin Drilon ran again for the Senate as independent but was under the People Power Coalition senatorial line-up.

Franklin Drilon again served as Senate President from 2001 to 2006.

Franklin Drilon was re-elected to the Philippine Senate in 2010 and was then honored for his 15-year service to the senate.

Franklin Drilon served as the Assistant Majority Leader and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance and led the Senate in enacting the national budget laws on time for 2011,2012 and 2013.

Franklin Drilon proudly called it as "anti-cancer law" for he firmly believes that the law would discourage the people from taking cigarettes so that they will not suffer lung cancer.

Halfway through the Presidency of Benigno Aquino III, Franklin Drilon won the majority of votes after being voted as Senate President, following the resignation of former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile.

Franklin Drilon is the acknowledged father of corporate lawyers in the Philippines, having sponsored and wrote the Revised Corporation Code in 2018.

Franklin Drilon was married to fellow lawyer and ACCRA senior partner Violeta Calvo, with whom he had two children, Eliza and Patrick.

Mrs Franklin Drilon died of the disease in September 1995, two months after her husband assumed his Senate seat.

Two years after, Franklin Drilon proposed to close family friend Mila Serrano-Genuino, who was a widow.

Franklin Drilon has a nephew named Rock who is married to ABS-CBN Broadcast Journalist Cecilia Victoria Orena, known as Ces Franklin Drilon.

Franklin Drilon is a member of the Rotary Club, Makati Chapter.