Pinoy Top Thinkers Today (2009)

Copyright © 2009 by Chester B Cabalza. All Rights Reserved.

In my simple tradition to honor 20 of the Philippines top living and influential thinkers every year whose thoughts and voices have impacted in our country, this 2009 roster of intellectuals includes politicians, jurists, entertainers, academics, economists, and green advocates. The upcoming fully-automated May 2010 presidential election has predisposed the outcome of my prestigious listing. Consequently, majority of them are candidates and seasoned politicians.

This personal listing which started in 2008 (the list of last year’s Top Pinoy Thinkers is still available at http://cbclawmatters.blogspot.com/2009/11/pinoy-top-thinkers-today-2008.html) was inspired by the annual top 100 public intellectuals of the powerful Foreign Policy (FP) Magazine.

The intent to come up with this crème of the crop roll of honor affirms my belief that Filipino rational has a league of its own and to recognize our own modern living scholars, the counterparts of the late legendary Filipino thinkers such as Jose Rizal and Apolinario Mabini, or global cerebral figures such as Barack Obama, Francis Fukuyama, and more, would bring cognizance among Filipino netizens and other nationals inside the halls of the transborder information superhighway.

Their inclusion for being leading thinkers today are based on the following criteria: articles, books, blogs, columns, essays, lecture, views, poems, and prose they pen or written about them. Various comments from known mediums such as the boobtube and youtube, social networking, campaigns, speeches, accomplishments, and academic distinctions that made them who they are today as leading Filipino intellectuals.

Let’s welcome the movers and shakers of 2009 who make his or her living through the battle of ideas that can truly shape our distinct Filipino society and the world we live in as well!!!

This is in alphabetical order:

Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III (senator, presidentiable) – who would ever thought that the quiet yet sensible only son, second of the five children of the slain modern intellectual hero Benigno Aquino Sr. and icon of Filipino democracy, the saintly late president Corazon Cojuanco Aquino would suddenly transform traditional politics of the Philippines into its new wave. His abrupt rise into the podium of dirty politics armed only with idealisms and living spirit of his parents has become the no.1 threat among aspiring presidents of the Philippines. According to his inner circle, he never dreamed of running for the presidency and to claim the spotlight from his famous sister Kris Aquino, but the clamor of the People Power disciples, wanted him to lead the country free from hungry-tyrant politicians. A former congressman and a senator, his voice now has been widened, powerful as a tsunami when he overruled the survey ratings by a half in his favor, and was sympathized for his uncorrupted spirit. Now, the Aquino protege shall be judged come election fever on his clean heart and moving intellect to lead and uplift Filipinos from mendicancy and unequal distribution of wealth. Hopefully.

Joaquin Bernas S.J. (priest, constitutional lawyer, educator) – a revered priest of justice and a spiritual guru, the 9th placer of the 1962 Bar examinations, the dean emeritus of the top-notch Ateneo Law School, and member of the 1986 Constitutional Commission of the country’s present constitution. According to blogs, this exceptional legal scholar who has earned degrees in Licentiate of Sacred theology from Woodstock College in 1996, Master of Laws and Doctor of Juridical Science from New York University in 1965 and 1968, respectively, is enjoying high credibility as an unbiased and independent legal expert. He has authored several books including the very thick Constitutional law book and law articles published and widely-used by Filipino priests of the court and law disciples, often cited by justices of the Philippine Supreme Court, and sometimes referred to as amicus curiae (friend of the court) to render his legal advice during court sessions and legislative investigation at the Philippine Senate.

Hilario Davide Jr (former chief of justice, ambassador to the UN) – he was proudly educated in Philippine public schools starting from his primary schooling at Argao, Cebu until upon completing his law degree from the UP College of Law. His first opportunity to capture recognition in the national scene was when he was elected as Delegate of the 4th District of Cebu to the 1971 Constitutional Convention (CONCON). In 1978, he was elected assemblyman for Cebu in the Interim Batasang Pambansa (Interim National Legislature) under the opposition party Pusyon Bisaya and became one of martial law's staunch critics. In February 1988, President Aquino appointed him as Chairman of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) and was the principal sponsor of the COMELEC’s Rules of Procedure. The 2002 Magsaysay Awardee for government service made a mark as the 20th Chief of Justice of the Philippines and head of the Judicial Branch of government from November 1998 to December 2005, presiding over the Supreme Court. He became known as the Centennial and Millennial Chief Justice who rendered competence as the presiding judge in the impeachment trial of former President Joseph Estrada but now a presidential candidate again in the 2010 election to redeem himself from his unfinished presidency. Today, appointed Ambassador Davide currently serves as permanent representative of the permanent mission of the Philippines to the UN Headquarters in New York City.

Conrado De Quiros (journalist, columnist, blogger) – he is one of the two thinkers, the other one is Arch. Palafox, to have appeared twice in my roll of top intellectuals. He proves that pen is mightier than a sword when he endorsed Noynoy Aquino for president while skeptics raised their eyebrows. But as he weaved his chosen words from his column, he converted almost half of the voting citizens and convinced them of a rightful candidate to vote for the president. Until now, he writes so intensely and thinks so passionately. He has this unique gift of expressing his thoughts, unafraid of his ideas that certainly espouse tongues of fire.

Raquel Del Rosario-Fortun (forensic expert, physician, professor) – caveat criminals and offenders! The female crime buster is in town as the first Filipino woman forensic pathologist, involved in high-profile crimes and natural disasters, in and out of the country, to offer scientific and smart explanations dealing with complex and controversial cases. Forensics needs methodological and skillful experts, dealing with microscopic details, as I learned from my forensics training with the FBI and in forensic anthropology, as an anthropology graduate myself who was once starstrucked at Prof. Fortun’s expertise. She was the 2002 TOYM awardee for forensic pahthology, currently, a popular and leading forensic pathologist in the field of forensics and other forensic sciences while very few students are blessed to follow her difficult footsteps. Indeed, she may now be called as the Mother of Forensic Pathology in the Philippines.

Bayani Fernando (former MMDA Chairman, vice presidentiable) – whether you like him or not his ideas of a walkable city is indeed a demanding task yet quite a remarkable achievement. Albeit, his efforts has not yet been fully-charged. During his reign as the pink master fencer, he has been called of all sorts, from Hitler to the Executioner, but he has been an effective MMDA chairperson concurrently holding the position of director of the DPWH for the NCR, or he may also be regarded as the “governor of metro manila.” The singing vice presidential candidate was once a simple mayor of 4th class municipality of Marikina but he transformed his town into a model city, hall-of-fame clean and green city, a highly-urbanized earning city, and later his wife ascribed the chiefdom of their “little Singapore” city which was the epicenter of the wrath of tropical storm Ondoy as it shattered the shoe capital of the country. Despite that, he’s still the best roadrunner in the metro.

Felipe Gozon (tv network CEO, aviation lawyer) – the first will be last and the last will be first, says in the bible. But who ever thought that when this Yale-educated lawyer became CEO of GMA-7, he has successfully turned-around GMA from second to its state as the leading television network to its current stature, at some point toppling the long-dominant ABS-CBN in 2004 until today in Metro Manila. In his wikipedia, he is regarded as a distinguished aviation lawyer, he was a member of the Philippine Air Negotiating Panel and is cited in the Asia Pacific Legal 500 as a leading expert in this field. Atty. Gozon was named CEO of the Year by UNO Magazine in 2004 and Master Entrepreneur of the Year (Philippines) 2004 by SGV/Ernst & Young in 2005. People Asia Magazine included him in the list of People of the Year 2005.

Loren Legarda (senator, vice presidentiable) – she’s a two-time senatorial topnotcher and a two-time vice presidential candidate. But will she become our first female vice president? A cum laude graduate from UP Mass Communication and later claimed herself as the class valedictorian of the Master of National Security Administration (MNSA) class, a graduate degree offered by the premier security educational institution, the National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP). Known as an award-winning broadcast-journalist before entering politics, but now as a single mother of two, she looks back and speaks out her roots to have come from a middle class family at the Venice of the Philippines – the Malabon City, perhaps to lure voters in her second bid as vice presidentiable. The long experience with floods thought her of valuing nature who is now a staunch supporter of climate change. As a champion of environmental causes, she has been awarded in the following: TOYM awardee for her humanitarian and environmental work; one of the Global Leaders for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland; United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) laureate included in the Global 500 Roll of Honour in 2001; and an Environment Awardee of the Priyadarshni Academy in Mumbai, India in 2004. But in 2008 Loren was appointed as UNISDR Asia Pacific Regional Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation. In 2009, she participated in the Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction, BBC World Debate and Forum on the Human Impact of Climate Change in Geneva, Switzerland.

Antonio Oposa Jr (environmental lawyer) – as he won a landmark case for the environmental law, thus he continues to champion environmental causes that made him one of this year’s Ramon Magsaysay awardee (Asia’s counterpart of Nobel peace prize). The citation by Ramon Magsaysay Award of him, reads that, as a lawyer and environmental activist Oposa made his mark with an unusual case that later popularized the "Oposa Doctrine" in international legal circles. This was a class action he filed in which forty-three minors asked government to cancel timber licenses on the grounds that rampant logging violated their constitutional rights to a healthy environment. In a 1993 decision, the Supreme Court upheld the principle of "intergenerational equity," affirming Oposa's argument that the interests of future generations could be protected in court. A triumph of principle, the case set a precedent for how citizens can leverage the law to protect the environment. Currently, the prominent Filipino environmental lawyer sits as the Board of Trustees of the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) to serve a three-year term on its board. Under his belt he has top honors such as the TOYM award of the Philippines and the highest United Nations honor in the field of environment, the UNEP Global 500 Roll of Honor.

Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao (no.1 world pound-for-pound boxing fighter) – don’t raise your brows as I include the only boxer in the world to have won seven world titles in seven different weight decisions. He’s the undisputed pound-for-pound king in the boxing ring today. In the TIME Magazine cover entitled “The Meaning of Manny”, he always exudes confidence of himself as he quips, “di ako bobo!” (Am not stupid!). Great athletes are known to have great minds, too, in the sports they excelled in. Never mind his plans to run for a political office as an architect of laws in the House of Representatives (only then we can judge him for his accomplishments as a congressman if he wins a seat). But as of now, for the ‘People’s Champ’ Pacman, who embodies the reincarnation of a Filipino Hercules, is so popular, admired for his rags to riches (and richest) story as sportsman-entertainer and a family man under pressure of intrigues in the country today. But his unparalleled contributions to the sports of boxing with the approving nods of world-renowned boxing analysts have paved his way into the firmaments of boxing history. The greatest Filipino fighter with a big heart and a humble personality. Dr. Manny Pacquiao, honoris causa, Doctorate in Education major in Human Kinetics, conferred to him by the Southwestern University only this year, is indeed a smart Filipino boxing fighter.

Felino Palafox Jr (architect, urban planner) – finally I have heard him lecture twice this year and personally was amazed by his brilliance for his well-designed futuristic buildings when my office organized a talk exclusively for him. No wonder he has gone too far and has alleviated the greatness of Philippine architecture in the world. He is mostly revered in the Middle East as consultant of sheiks and kings, and highly-ranked in the competitive top 200 architects in the world. I wonder why some professionals turn to professional-envy of his superiority in the science and mathematics of designing. In my previous citation of him last year, I described him as a man of vision who leads an army of young and ambitious architects, interior designers, landscape architects, and environmental/urban planners. Once you stride around the Rockwell Center or boardwalk and play golf at the Country Club, you can sense his bright ideas of creating livable cities with world-class designs. He’s a principal architect and an urban planner that has extensive works and consultancies in over 30 countries based from his webpage. Truly, he is today’s top Filipino architect, urban planner, and environmental city planner.


Manny Pangilinan (top entrepreneur, CEO, economist) – his speech during the Ateneo Graduation last 2006 was posted everywhere in the Internet to sum up his own rags to riches success story. He’s now revered as a smart and savvy entrepreneur. He is the Chairman of the PLDT Company, the Philippines's largest telecom from 1990 up to the present. He is also Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Ateneo de Manila University and of San Beda College, and a proud alumnus of the two Catholic schools where he spent his elementary and high school days at SBC and graduated as cum laude from the ADMU with an Economics degree. He received his MBA degree in 1968 from the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce at the University of Pennsylvania. Because of his cutting-edged leadership in various high-profile businesses, he’s now widely recognized for his outstanding achievement in business and his commitment in the academic, charitable, arts and culture, sports and health communities. Presently, aside from being the Managing Director and CEO of First Pacific, Mr. Pangilinan is also the chairman of PLDT, Smart Communications, Metro Pacific Corporation, Landco Pacific Corporation, among others. Will his new entry in the TV war networks succeed as he now controls the newly-emerging and the third force TV5 network?

Efren Peñaflorida (youth educator, 2009 CNN Hero) – he beats all the odds and proved to the world that Filipinos are worthy of international recognition for heroism. He is the founder of Dynamic Teen Company (DTC), an organization training young children to become responsible, systematic, and principled. The 2009 CNN Hero awardee is the new face of youthful idealism and modern living example of Rizal’s admonition that the youth is the hope of the society. This multi-awarded young philanthropist has championed education, as a source of smartness and intellectuality, to free oneself from ignorance and poverty. Indeed, he’s an ordinary man doing extraordinary things. A volunteer hero who epitomized education as his universal catalyst to tell the world that everybody can gain and acquire education even in the streets and slums during one’s lifetime to level off opportunities with other people who have a means to go to school. No wonder, he gives new hope to the youth of his unassuming yet influential great deeds.

Brillante Mendoza (2009 Cannes best director and filmmaker) – his name speaks for itself and he's a totally brilliant cinema director. An art for art's sake. From his only nine directed films since 2005, his achievements as a young and talented director has placed him in the firmament of the world’s best by winning the 2009 Cannes best director for his gory yet realistic film “Kinatay”. Twice to have walked the red carpet of Cannes film festival, although, his first movie “Serbis” in this prestigious film gathering garnered negative reviews in Europe, however, it gained good reviews in the American market. His mastery of his craft has not faltered and the ingenuity of a resilient Filipino artist has ultimately paid off. Today, he has been regarded as a top guru of contemporary Filipino and Asian independent films, making his schedules hectic through interviews by CNN, attending renowned film festivals worldwide, and making films as his foremost passion.

Mar Roxas (senator, vice presidentiable) – demoting himself from his presidential ambition to be vice presidentiable of enigmatic Noynoy Aquino. This politico is now married to a top and popular broadcast journalist. The senator is a Wharton-educated economist and is no nonsense law-maker who knows how to swear bad words. Just like his fellow tandem Aquino, he is not a first-timer to the powerful seat in Malacanan palace, since he’s the grandson of former President Manuel Roxas. He is known as the father of the income-generating call centers during his stint as former DTI secretary. But let’s monitor his luck on how this young intellectual dynamo will perform in the 2010 election and if this politician-economist wins will he turnaround the economy of our country form third to first world?

Joey Salceda (governor, presidential adviser, economist) – one of the brains of the current administration who enjoys quirky comments when he said in a public forum of his boss as the “luckiest bitch.” His legislative and executive prowess as congressman and governor of Albay is unparalleled. He is voted by foreign fund managers in Asiamoney’s Annual Survey as "Best Analyst" in 1995 and "Best Economist" for four consecutive years from 1993 to 1996, where Salceda brought to Congress a wealth of experience from the financial markets and the field of economics.

Henry Sy (retailer king, chairman emeritus) – recently named as the richest Chinese Filipino businessman in Forbes magazine’s 2008 list of 40 wealthiest Filipinos. No doubt that he is acknowledged as the country’s "Retail King," who has come a long way from the modest shoe store he set up in Quiapo in 1946 to become Asia's biggest shopping mall operator with over 30 malls throughout the Philippines and is now expanding his megamalls in China. His powerful vision and strength as prime retailer, tourism rainmaker, and banking investor in his growing conglomerate, proves his resilience and faith in the Philippine economy, despite series of economic crises. Who would stop him from conquering the world through his supermalls? Indeed, he has placed the Filipino megamalls in the world map where four of his SM supermalls are included in the list of the 20 largest and biggest malls in the world.

Andrew Tan (entrepreneur, IT cyberparks owner) – think big and he’s one of the hottest visionaries in the country today! His eminent name is now a buzz in real estate (Megaworld Corporation and Empire East), IT parks, BPO offices, and posh mall (Eastwood City), liquor (Emperador Distillers Inc) and fastfood (McDonald’s franchises). According to a 2007 edition of the Forbes Magazines, Tan became the Philippines' fourth billionaire after Jaime Zobel de Ayala, Henry Sy and Lucio Tan. Once a poor immigrant from China, he later moved to Manila where he studied accounting at the University of the East, became a tycoon, and was named "Businessman of the Year" for 2004. The new tycoon in the block is now considered as one of the most inspiring new “rags-to-riches” billionaires of Southeast Asia.

Gilbert Teodoro (presidentiable, ex-DND Secretary and congressman) – he is the only child of former SSS administrator Gilberto Teodoro, Sr. and former BP member Mercedes Cojuanco-Teodoro, who happens to have only one child with his wife Monica Louise Prieto-Teodoro. But this elite intellectual dynamo and seasoned congressman from Tarlac is actually a bar topnotcher who holds distinct memberships in the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, UP Alumni Association, UP Law Alumni Association, Harvard Alumni Association, and the Harvard Law Alumni Association. He is also a licensed commercial pilot and a Colonel in the Philippine Air Force Reserve. Very approachable with whom I had once an elbow-to-elbow conversation in a cigarette break at a Cebu City disaster conference while we had both reminisced our UP education days and experiences in the Diliman campus, of course in different decades, while surrounded by his courteous bodyguards. No air, at all! He’s known as the favorite nephew of Eduardo Cojuanco Jr., chairman of San Miguel Corporation and cousin of fellow presidential contender, Noynoy Aquino. But will his intellect translate into massive votes come election time?

Manny Villar (presidentiable, former majority leader in the Senate & House of Rep) – he’s the wealthiest senator in the Philippines with a net worth of P1.04 billion (US$22 million) as of 2008. He served both the Senate and the House of Representatives as majority leader who initiated the impeachment of then President Joseph Estrada, who is now his rival for the 2010 presidency. He attended the UP Diliman where he earned his bachelor's degree in business administration and an MBA degree. In his website, it was written that after graduation, he tried his hand as an accountant at the country’s biggest accounting firm, Sycip Gorres Velayo & Co. (SGV & Co). He resigned shortly though to venture on his own seafood delivery business. But this brown billionaire became the housing industry leader and the biggest homebuilder in Southeast Asia, having built more than 100,000 houses for the poor and middle class Filipino families. He garnered various awards such as the Ten Outstanding Young Men Award (1986) by the Philippine Jaycees, Agora Award for Outstanding Achievement in Marketing Management (1989), Most Outstanding CPA by the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (1990) and Most Outstanding UP Alumnus (1991). Dr. Villar is bestowed with honoris causa doctoral degrees in various colleges and universities in the country. But will he make a difference in the 2010 presidential election?