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Edcel B. Lagman, Jr.

About Edcel Greco Alexandre B. Lagman.

Edcel Greco Lagman is a lawyer and Filipino politician who started his political career as city councilor of Quezon City, Philippines's 4th Legislative District. He was born on July 24, 1972 in Caloocan City, Philippines. His father is presently a six-term congressman of Albay's First District. His mother, Ma. Cielo Almojuela Burce is the grand-daughter of the first governor of the island province of Catanduanes, Bicol Region, Governor Felipe Almojuela.

He studied in Benedictine Abbey School (presently known as San Beda College-Alabang) from pre-school to high school and was a consistent honor student. In 1989, he studied college at the University of the Philippines-Manila taking up BS Behavioral Science but later shifted to AB Political Science where he was a college scholar from 1991-1992 and graduated in 1993. He took up law at the San Beda College of Law (SBC-Law) for three (3) years but opted to finish his law degree at the Arellano University School of Law (AUSL) where he was a dean's lister and graduating from the same with honors by ranking tenth (10th) in his class composed of one hundred and two (102) graduates.

He initially worked for the Department of Foreign Affairs as Assistant Press Officer of the Embassy of the Philippines in Washington, D.C., U.S.A. from November 1993 to May 1994. He resumed his law studies in SBC-Law in June 1994. In 1999, he worked as associate in the law firm put up by his father, Representative Edcel C. Lagman of the 1st District of Albay and uncle, Filemon "Ka Popoy" C. Lagman, a labor leader and founder of party-list groups Sanlakas and Partido ng Manggagawa. Sanlakas won a seat in the lower house in 2001 and 2004 while Partido ng Manggagawa won a seat in 2007. Lagman Law Offices was the first law office in the Philippines which solely handled labor and industrial relations cases for the workingman and for labor unions. In 06 February 2001, Ka Popoy Lagman was gunned down at the Bahay ng Alumni in U.P. This affected him deeply as much as the forced disappearance (and possibly killing) of his uncle deseparecido Hermon C. Lagman in 1977, a labor lawyer and human rights advocate during Martial Law. In 2002, he worked at the Supreme Court of the Philippines as Court Attorney IV. He shortly resumed private law practice and in 2003, he was named partner of Lagman Lagman and Mones Law Offices.

He entered politics in the 2004 National and Local elections, running for position of councilor of Quezon City's Fourth District which is the most politically-relevant and economically-viable legislative district in said city. He topped said elections for councilors and became the first neophyte candidate for said position In Quezon City politics to achieve the distinction. In 2007, he was again elected as councilor. In the 2010 first automated elections in the Philippines, he once again topped the race for councilors in Quezon City.

In his first term (2004-2007), he was chosen as one of the Ten Outstanding Councilors of the Philippines (TOCP) in a nation-wide search conducted by the Junior Chamber International of the Philippine Jaycees. This is the most prestigious award a councilor in the Philippines can receive. Each recipient-awardee was given a Five Hundred Thousand Pesos (PhP. 500,000.00) Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) from the Senate of the Philippines. He used the fund for his medical outreach programs and peace and order initiatives which was duly audited by the Commission on Audit. On his second term (2007-2010), he was elected by his peers as 1st Majority Floor Leader of the Quezon City Council and chaired the Committee on Health where he was credited for paving the way for institutionalizing the Teens Health Quarters (THQ) in Quezon City. THQ is a social franchise model of the UNFPA for adolescent health. On his third term (2010-2013) he once again got the support of his colleagues by retaining the same officership position and was elected to chair the Committee on Education, Science and Technology. As education committee chair, he sat as regent-member of the Board of Regents of the Quezon City Polytechnic University (QCPU) and member of the Local School Board. He was also a member of the People's Law Enforcement Bureau (PLEB) since 2007 which is an office that hears and decides cases filed by private citizens and residents of Quezon City against erring policemen stationed in Quezon City.

As city councilor, Lagman won for every year for three (3) consecutive terms the Bantayog Awards and Judge Feliciano Belmonte, Sr. Award for Most Outstanding City Councilor of Quezon City. He also principally authored the Socialized Housing Tax Ordinance which has addressed the five (5) decades-long problem of housing for informal settlers in Quezon City. Since 2011, Quezon City has been generating at least PhP 200M a year for socialized housing for the poor and marginalized and those who live in danger areas such as rivers and waterways. He also instituted, by way of an ordinance, a monthly compensation package for public attorneys in Quezon City for the proper and effective representation of the city's poorest of litigants. Lagman also authored an ordinance to create an investor friendly climate for businessmen looking at Quezon City to infuse their capital. He did this by legally releasing to the Business Permits and Licensing Office (BPLO) PhP 25M held in trust by the city since 2002 on behalf of the Quezon City Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The fund was used to defray the expenses for a Business Portal Registry that digitally-mapped all existing businesses in Quezon City and identified legitimate and illegitimate businesses to protect Quezon City consumers, entrepreneurs and businessmen.

In 2009, he was invited to teach Local Government Administration as professorial lecturer at the University of the Philippines-Manila's Graduate School. He also taught political science subjects in the undergraduate program of UP-Manila until June 2011.

On 19 March 2012, he surprised his colleagues by being the first elective councilor of Quezon City in its history to resign his post. He did this for constitutional and statutory reasons in order to run for Representative of Albay's First District that his father will vacate on 30 June 2013. This drew mixed reactions from both his colleagues and constituents but his resignation was eventually accepted by Quezon City Mayor Herbert M. Bautista on 31 March 2012. On 23 April 2012, President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III appointed Ivy Xenia Lim-Lagman to serve out the remainder of Mr. Lagman's term to end on 30 June 2013.

In September 2012, Lagman was overwhelmingly chosen by the Liberal Party (LP) to be its standard bearer in the First District of Albay. He successfully ran as congressman in the 13 May 2013 national and local elections by soundly defeating incumbent Board Member Ricky V. Ziga who ran under the United Nationalist Coalition (UNA) and lawyer-CPA Gregorio "Ted" Contacto of PDP-Laban. The younger Ziga is the son of former Senator Victor S. Ziga and the grandson of the late former lady Senator, Tecla San Andres-Ziga. Mr. Lagman was proclaimed congressman-elect on 16 May 2013 by the Provincial Board of Canvassers of Albay.

Political observers in Albay's First District were unanimous in their assessment that the 13 May 2013 elections in Albay's First District was marred by relentless black propaganda coming from the Ziga and Contacto camps against Mr. Lagman. From a political context, a personal vendetta fueled the Ziga campaign which started when Ricky Ziga was rejected by the Liberal Party despite his late grandmother, former Senator Tecla San Andres-Ziga and his father, former Senator Victor S. Ziga being stalwarts of the Liberal Party for at least four (4) decades. Ricky was junked by the LP and chose Lagman because of the latter's performance, leadership, integrity and winnability. This spurred the Zigas to abandon the LP and secure the nomination of Ricky Ziga as UNA candidate for congressman. Contacto, who was initially asked by former Senator Ziga to run for congressman was eventually convinced by the elder Ziga to run under PDP-Laban to erode the LP-PDP-Laban coalition to favor the chances of his candidate son.

Shortly after Lagman filed his Certificate of Candidacy (COC), disqualification cases were filed by former Senator Ziga with both the COMELEC and the courts against the former by raising the issue of residency but were all dismissed for utter lack of merit. Victor Ziga also underhandedly attacked the Bicolano heritage of Lagman claiming that the latter was an impostor and a fake Liberal Party member. Moreover, Ricky Ziga and his father, Victor, also allowed the unauthorized use of GMA 7's Imbestigador's material by splicing and "doctoring" its public video exhibition in all the 198 barangays of the first district of Albay from the start up to the end of the campaign period. This was an attempt to connect Lagman to the "ghost employees" controversy in Quezon City wherein Mr. Lagman was never impleaded as a public respondent in a case filed against three (3) Quezon City councilors namely Francisco Calalay, Roderick Paulate and Marvin Rillo. In response to the black propaganda, Lagman simply secured a certification from Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales that he has no pending administrative and or criminal case in his eight (8) years as councilor.

Despite the insidious barrage of black propaganda applied by the Ziga's UNA camp and the daily attacks on radio by PDP-Laban candidate Contacto which were indubitably libelous, Lagman still elected to pursue eye-level campaigning and to not engage in gutter-style politics. In a survey conducted by various radio programs on the state of the worst black propaganda employed against a congressional candidate, it was found out that electorate was fed up with the mudslinging unilaterally coming from the camps of Ziga and Contacto. Lagman also elevated public discourse by simply informing the electorate of his platform of government that concentrated on sustaining massive infrastructure projects, sitio electrification program (electricity to all the sitios as all barangays already have electricity), setting up a special economic zone in Albay to spur the growth potential of its eco-tourism industry and doubling the number of Lagman scholars at the tertiary level that now account for 17,107 scholars in its 18 years in existence. Lagman eventually won the congressional fight.

Mr. Lagman is married to Ivy Lim of Naga City, Bicol and they have five children. He also excelled in competitive basketball earning second place finishes for the San Beda College of Law and the Arellano University School of Law.

Schools Edcel Greco Lagman attended

Elementary: Benedictine Abbey School (presently, San Beda College-Alabang) 1979-1985 (Honors Class from Grades 1 to 6)
High School: Benedictine Abbey School (presently, SBC-Alabang) 1985-1999 Honors student (1985-1987)
College: University of the Philippines-Manila BS Behavioral Science and later AB Political Science 1989-1993 (College Scholar, 1991-1992)
Law School: San Beda College of Law 1993-1996 and Arellano University School of Law 1996-1999 (Graduated with Honors,1999)
Graduate School: University of the Philippines-NCPAG (University Scholar, 2010-2012)

Organizations or Companies Edcel Greco Lagman Affiliated with

Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP-Albay Chapter, member)
Liberal Party 2009 up to present
Philippine Councilors League
Congressman-elect, House of Representatives, 16th Congress of the Philippines