Risa Hontiveros

Hontiveros first entered politics as the third nominee of the Akbayan party-list in the 2004 national elections. She was one of the prominent opposition figures of the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo administration, especially during the height of the Hello Garci controversy of 2005.[9] On the International Women's Day of 2006, she was arrested and brought to Camp Caringal in Quezon City without a warrant.[10]

Hontiveros displays Corazon Aquino's iconic laban (fight) hand symbol after joining the Liberal Party in their campaign in the 2010 elections.

Running under the ticket of then-senator (later president) Benigno Aquino III, Hontiveros lost in the 2010 national elections, placing 13th overall.[11]

Running under President Aquino's Team PNoy ticket, Hontiveros ran again for a senate seat in the 2013 midterm election. However, she lost for the second time, placing 17th in the Senate race. Her campaign slogan was Paglalaban ka, aalagaan ka ("Will fight for you, will take care of you") which reflected the gains from enacting the Reproductive Health Law and the continuing struggle for universal health care and good governance. In the aftermath, Hontiveros acknowledged Senator Serge Osmeña's observation of her mixed messages in the campaign may have been the reason for her loss.[12]

In December 2014, Hontiveros was inducted as a trustee of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation board.[13]

Hontiveros makes her first privilege speech before the Senate. 2016

Hontiveros ran again for senator and won in the 2016 election under the Koalisyon ng Daang Matuwid of President Benigno Aquino III. Landing ninth place, she was proclaimed a senator-elect by the Philippine Commission on Elections, sitting en banc as the National Board of Canvassers, on May 19, 2016.[14]

In November 2016, Hontiveros, along with hundreds of progressive groups, protested the sudden burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani.[15]

Hontiveros authored Senate Bill No. 1345, or the Philippine Mental Health Bill, which aims to create a mental health law for the Philippines by integrating mental health care services and programs into the nation's public health system and ensuring its availability in all hospitals nationwide. The bill was filed on February 17, 2017, and passed the Senate on May 2.[16]

A staunch opponent of the re-imposition of the death penalty, Hontiveros, along with some other senators, announced in February 2017 that they would block any attempt to legislate such a law after the House of Representatives passed their version of the bill.[17] Following the murders of Kian delos Santos, Carl Arnaiz and Reynaldo de Guzman, Hontiveros opposed the deadly Philippine drug war.[18] She was one of the main initiators of a Senate investigation against the police personnel that killed delos Santos. She also took legal custody of the case witnesses, with proper written consent from the minor and their parents, after fears of police retaliation against the witness surfaced.[19]

Hontiveros was the principal author and sponsor of Republic Act No. 10932, or the "Act strengthening the Anti-Hospital Deposit Law", which increases the penalties for hospitals that demand deposits or advance payments before administering basic emergency services.[20]

In September 2017, Hontiveros caught Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II drafting fabricated charges against her through text messages during a hearing on the deaths of minors in the drug war. Aguirre's text messages instructed former Negros Oriental representative Jacinto Paras, a member of the controversial advocacy group Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, to 'expedite' cases against Hontiveros. Aguirre used the same tactic against Senator Leila de Lima, which led to de Lima's arrest a few months past. The revelation was protested nationwide as President Rodrigo Duterte's justice secretary was allegedly focused on arresting Hontiveros instead of focusing on the murder case.[21] Despite the pieces of evidence presented in the Senate, Secretary Aguirre still filed cases against Hontiveros in October.[21] On September 13, 2017, Hontiveros, along with other senators, vowed to convince their House counterparts to restore the proposed ₱678-million (estimated US$13.3-million) budget of the Philippine Commission on Human Rights, which criticized Duterte's deadly drug war, for 2018 after the House downgraded the commission's budget to only ₱1,000 (about $20). The budget was eventually restored after major public and Senate appeals.[22]

In December 2017, Hontiveros became one of the recipients of the first-ever Ripple Awards by the non-governmental organization LoveYourself, which are given to "brave individuals who have made a significant impact in spreading HIV/AIDS awareness, stopping the spread of the virus, and helping to fight the stigma suffered by their communities".[23] In 2018, various fact-checking national news networks denounced the proliferation on social media of fake news against Hontiveros.[24] In May 2018, Hontiveros criticized Malacañang for its "sheepish response" to China's intrusions and exploitation in the South China Sea and Benham Rise.[25] On May 11, Hontiveros condemned the ouster of Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, calling it a "stab to Constitution's heart".[26]

On August 16, 2018, a year after Kian delos Santos' fatal shooting, Hontiveros filed a resolution seeking to declare every August 16 as a "National Day of Remembrance" for all the victims of extrajudicial killings under the drug war.[27]

On September 20, 2018, Hontiveros criticized President Rodrigo Duterte, calling him the "real destabilizer", after Duterte accused numerous progressive universities and Liberal opposition figures of a destabilization plot that sought to oust him from office,[28] despite both the military and the police force eventually clearing all universities and Liberal opposition figures from the alleged ouster plot.[29] On September 24, 2018, Hontiveros exposed the ₱2-billion (estimated $37-million) "tara" (grease payment) system profit of military general Jason Aquino, whom Duterte appointed as the head of the National Food Authority.[30] In October 2018, the Senate approved the proposed Safe Streets and Public Spaces Act of 2017, which Hontiveros principally authored and sponsored.[31] The bill passed the House in January 2019,[32] and was signed into law by President Duterte in July 2019.[33]

In November 2018, Hontiveros received the Equality Champion Award from the Lesbian and Gay Legislative Advocacy (Lagablab) Network for her push for equality laws in the Senate, especially the SOGIE Equality Bill (which stalled in both the 17th and 18th Congresses), and her fight against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity expression in the country.[34] In the same month, Hontiveros reiterated that the influx of illegal Chinese workers in the Philippines is an "assault on sovereignty and economy".[35] Hontiveros has continuously appealed to the government to "stop normalizing rape and sexual abuse amidst Duterte's sexually provocative remarks and tirades that objectify women and LGBTs".[36]

In January 2019, Republic Act 11166, or the HIV and AIDS Policy Act of 2018, passed into law. Hontiveros was the principal author and sponsor of the law in the Senate. The new HIV law aids in expanding access to evidence-based HIV strategies and facilitates easier access to learning about one's HIV status. The passage of the law was lauded by the World Health Organization.[37] In the same month, Hontiveros filed a bill to legalize divorce in the Philippines.[38] The Social Weather Stations reported that a majority of Filipinos support the proposed divorce bill.[39]

Hontiveros opposed lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility, which Duterte initially wanted to be nine years of age.[40] She was awarded the Silver Rose Award by Solidar at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, on January 29, 2019, in recognition of her contributions "to social justice and solidarity".[41] Hontiveros was cited as "a progressive politician who is fighting for ideals and freedom in the Philippines".[42]

On July 19, 2019, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group filed charges against Hontiveros and other members of the opposition for "sedition, cyber libel, libel, estafa, harboring a criminal, and obstruction of justice".[43] On February 10, 2020, she was cleared of all charges.[44]

She urged an investigation of Chinese men's illegal activities, including prostitution, in a casino at Clark in Pampanga.[45] Hontiveros also called for an independent investigation on the murder of Anakpawis chairman Randall Echanis.[46] On August 18, 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Hontiveros urged the Department of Health to withdraw the memorandum that suspended the special risk allowance of public health workers.[47] She has backed the passage of the "Magna Carta for Seafarers",[48] as well as the establishment of more medical schools in state universities and colleges.[49]

On August 26, 2020, Hontiveros urged President Duterte to communicate plans to protect the Philippines from China's aggression in the South China Sea amid territorial disputes.[50] She also urged the government to speed up the digital infrastructure support for MSMEs during the pandemic.[51] By the end of August, she urged the Office of the President to drop the Chinese firms involved in building military installations in the territories of the Philippines in the South China Sea.[52] On September 7, 2020, Hontiveros criticized Duterte's declaration of absolute pardon for United States Marine Joseph Scott Pemberton, who has been convicted in the homicide of trans Filipina, Jennifer Laude, calling Duterte's move an "affront not only to the LGBTQI+ community but to the Filipino people".[53]

Hontiveros speaking at a Team Robredo–Pangilinan campaign rally in Antipolo, 2022

Hontiveros sought re-election as a senator in the 2022 election under Team Robredo–Pangilinan, the main opposition ticket. She was also named as a guest candidate of the Labor and Ecology Advocates for Democracy (LEAD) senatorial slate of Leody de Guzman, another presidential candidate.[54] She was successfully reelected for a second term, ranking 11th out of the 12 winning candidates with more than 15 million votes. She was projected to be the only opposition senator in the 19th Congress.[55] On June 27, she became the de facto leader of the opposition after she took her oath of office before outgoing Vice President Leni Robredo at the Quezon City Reception House.[56]

During the 19th Congress, she became part of the two-member Senate minority bloc alongside Koko Pimentel, who was elected as Minority Floor Leader.[57] On August 3, 2022, Pimentel named her as Senate Deputy Minority Leader.[58]

Hontiveros with the President of Taiwan Tsai Ing-wen and her pet cat Think Think during a visit to Taiwan, May 2023

In May 2023, Hontiveros visited Taipei, Taiwan, to meet with President Tsai Ing-wen and Foreign Minister Joseph Wu amid China's perceived aggression in the region.[59] She became the first sitting Philippine government official to visit the country, with which the Philippines does not maintain official diplomatic relations due to its adherence to the One China policy, since Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas in 2011. Hontiveros also visited Overseas Filipinos in Taiwan whom she claimed were potentially affected by Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian's statements urging the Philippine government to oppose Taiwan independence. She stressed the importance of adopting a "peaceful approach" in resolving the South China Sea dispute and expressed her dedication to engaging in diplomatic, legal, and "respectful" negotiations with all relevant states "to advance peace and stability in the entire South China Sea."[60]

Hontiveros opposed the establishment of the Maharlika Investment Fund, the proposed sovereign wealth fund for the Philippines. On May 31, 2023, she became the only senator who voted against the bill proposing its creation, which President Bongbong Marcos certified as urgent a week prior. Hontiveros explained that, while she believed that the country needed a new form of public financing, proposing a sovereign wealth fund was premature and more suitable in the medium term once the Philippine economy has commodity-based surpluses or surpluses from external trade from state-owned enterprises.[61][62]

• Republic Act 9502 – Cheaper and Quality Medicines Law – significantly decreased the cost of quality medicines in the country.[63]
• Republic Act 9700 – Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension With Reforms (CARPER) Law[64] – improved the agrarian reform program of the government.
• Republic Act 10932 – Act Strengthening the Anti-Hospital Deposit Law – strengthened the penalties against hospitals who violate the Anti-Hospital Deposit Law.[65]
• Republic Act 11036 – Philippine Mental Health Law – safeguards the mental health of Filipino citizens through education, medical advancements, and other support systems.[66][67]
• Republic Act 11166 – HIV and AIDS Policy Act of 2018[68] – expands access to evidence-based HIV strategies and facilitates easier access to learning about one's HIV status.
• Republic Act 11313 – Safe Streets and Public Spaces Act[69] – protects Filipinos (notably women) from catcalling, groping, persistent requests, and other forms of street harassment.