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Secretary Defensor was elected congressman of the third district of
Quezon
City in 1995, the youngest
member of the House of Representatives. He
won
reelection in 1998. Defensor soon distinguished himself as a leading
member
of the group of young legislators in the House. He was named one of the
top
10 Legislators, New Millennium’s
Most Outstanding Solons and Most
Consistent
Outstanding Congressman for three consecutive years by the Gladiators
Magazine and Congress Watch Magazine. Reelected in 1998, Defensor was
voted
by his party-mates as assistant minority
floor leader of the Eleventh
Congress
His legislative accomplishments include the passage of RA 8313, An Act
upgrading
the Quirino Memorial Medical Center, and RA 8976, An Act
Requiring
the Fortification of Processed Foods with Essential
Micronutrients.
He co-authored priority bill including, An Act Creating the Department
of
Housing and Urban
Development, Dangerous Drugs Act of 1998, Act
Amending the
Magna Carta of the Disabled Persons, and an Act Mandating
the
Nationwide
Rabies Vaccination Program.
Following President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s assumption of
the
presidency,
Defensor was named presidential adviser on housing and chair of the
Housing
and Urban Development
Coordinating Council (HUDCC). He was awarded Most
Outstanding Cabinet Secretary by the Gawad Paglilingkod Metro Manila
Radio
Reporters Organization in 2002 in recognition of his performance as
chairman
of HUDCC. In 1999, he was
cited by Asiaweek as one of Asia’s Political
Leaders of the New Millennium.
Born on June 30, 1969, Defensor
was elected councilor of Quezon City in
1992, the youngest member of that body. He was reelected in 1992.
Defensor
finished high school, Bachelor of Arts in History, and Masters
in
Public Administration at the University of the Philippines.
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