Roberto Pagdanganan

Personal life

Robert Pagdanganan was born to former councilor Juan T. Pagdanganan, Jr. (now deceased) and Mrs. Rosalina Mamangon Pagdanganan. He is brother of former Calumpit, Bulacan mayor Ramon Pagdanganan (1953–2008). He is married to the former Susana Oblefias of Sariaya, Quezon who is a governor of the Philippine National Red Cross and Central Board Member of the Girl Scouts of the Philippines. They have two children, Maria Rossana (married to Michael Allan Sicat) who is a former senior manager at Unilever PRC, and Roberto Raymond. Roberto Raymond was also a politician, he ran for Vice-governor of Bulacan in 2004. Raymond died in 2007 in a car accident on the MacArthur Highway, in Malolos City, Bulacan.

Political career

Roberto "Obet" Pagdanganan, is the President of the Foundation for Local Autonomy and Good Governance, Inc. (FLAGG), an NGO dedicated to pursue equitable and sustainable national progress through genuine local autonomy, good governance and quality education. He is Chairman of the National Cooperative Movement (NCM) which supports the development of cooperatives and the small and medium enterprises (SMEs). He is also Vice-Chairman of the National Real Estate Association (NREA), and a member of the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP) where he was a two-term National President in 1996 to 1998. He holds two other posts in the government as presidential adviser on cooperatives and chairman of the board of part-time professor at the Manuel L. Quezon University (15 years) and Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (3 years), before he became OIC Governor of Bulacan from March 1986 to December 1987. He was elected unopposed (the first) as Provincial Governor of Bulacan in January 1988 and was thereafter re-elected twice in 1992 and in 1995. In 1998, he ran as a candidate for the Presidential nomination of Lakas-CMD but later lost to House Speaker Jose de Venecia during the national convention, he was later included as one of the candidates of the party for the 1998 Senatorial Elections where he placed in the 13th spot. In 2001, he ran again as senator during the Midterm elections under the People Power Coalition but later lost.

Obet Pagdanganan also hosts regular radio programs: "Lingkod ng Bayan" at GMA Super Radyo DZBB, 594 kHz every Saturday, 11 am to noon; "Yagyagan sa Bantay Radyo" at DYDD Cebu City, every Saturday, 9 pm to 10 pm; and "Obet n' Action sa Aksyon Radyo", DXGO Davao City every Sunday, 7 am to 8 am. He has published papers on Business and Local Government Partnership for National Progress, development of SME's and cooperatives, and local governance. He is the author of the book "A Call for Cooperative Revolution".

After Pagdanganan lost the 2007 Bulacan Gubernatorial race, his brother, Ramon "Monching," who also lost the Calumpit mayoralty race, was gunned down on May 4, 2008, in Calumpit. The Philippine National Police (PNP) ordered full security for Roberto Pagdanganan.

On October 15, 2009, the Supreme Court of the Philippines allowed the Commission on Elections to proceed with the election protest for the governatorial position in Bulacan of Roberto M. Pagdanganan against Joselito R. Mendoza.

On December 1, 2009, the Commission on Elections proclaimed Roberto Pagdanganan as the rightful governor of the province of Bulacan.

As a new member of the Nacionalista Party, Pagdanganan ran for congressman for the 1st district of Bulacan in the 2010 but lost to incumbent Ma. Victoria Sy-Alvarado.

Government positions

This is a partial list of government offices handled by Roberto Pagdanganan:

Education

Obet Pagdanganan holds the following educational qualifications.

Pagdanganan, 62, was among the record 6,533 law graduates who took the September, 2008 Philippine Bar Examination.