Francis Pangilinan

Pangilinan first made his mark as a young lawyer giving free legal assistance on-air and closely monitored case progress through the television program Hoy Gising! over ABS-CBN where he was a co-anchor and segment host. He also anchored radio programs, including Batas and Relos Report with Atty. Kiko over DZMM, programs aimed at making the Philippine’s legal court system more understandable to the masses by increasing their understanding of their rights and duties under the law.

In his first term at the Senate, he championed the plight of the most vulnerable children, and authored and shepherded the measure that would keep children in conflict with the law out of cells that detained mostly adult hardcore criminals. He recognized that the country’s judicial system needs to be overhauled, and ensured that salaries and benefits of judges and prosecutors were increased so that the best and the brightest lawyers would be drawn to public service.

After winning in the 2016 senatorial elections, Pangilinan continued his advocacy in agriculture. He was part of the minority bloc in the Senate together with Senators Franklin Drilon, Risa Hontiveros, Leila de Lima, and former Senators Bam Aquino and Antonio Trillanes. His most recent law was RA 11321 or the Sagip Saka Act, which he principally authored and principally sponsored in the Senate. Sagip Saka aims increase farmers' income by empowering them and connecting them to the market. The law was signed on April 17, 2019.

In October 2016, he was appointed interim Liberal Party president. His appointment became permanent in August 2017.

In May 2014, Pangilinan was appointed as Presidential Assistant for Food Security and Agricultural Modernization - a Cabinet-level position under the Office of the President of the Philippines - by President Benigno Aquino III. In September 2015, Pangilinan announced his resignation from the post.

As OPAFSAM head, he pushed for the creation of the Coco Levy trust fund for coconut farmers—in an attempt to correct the injustice started by Marcos and his cronies who collected taxes from the farmers purportedly to develop the industry. In 2016, he pursued the same advocacy in his third term at the Senate. But after he and fellow opposition senators were removed from the Senate majority, and subsequently lost the chairpersonship of the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, he continued to defend the Coco Levy trust fund bill with new committee chairperson Sen. Cynthia Villar agreeing to let him finish work he has started.

When he chaired the Senate Committee on Agriculture in 2010, he was able to speak to farmers all over the country and was inspired to start his own small farm, from which he learned this insight: the success of the country lies in the success of the poorest in Philippine society—our farmers and fishers, our food producers.

He led his Senate Volleyball team to win the championship in the Senate Olympics held last July 2008.

Formed in 2008, Pangilinan created the Judicial Executive Legislative Advisory and Consultative Council, first proposed on the July 16–17, 2007 Manila Hotel Summit on extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances in the Philippines.

He was first elected as Senate Majority Leader in 2004. On July 23, 2007, Jinggoy Estrada was voted Senate president pro tempore, while Pangilinan was the majority leader following the assumption of Manuel Villar to the chamber's leadership of the 14th Congress.

The Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations (TAYO), established in 2003 to recognize young people’s initiatives in public service and nation-building, was his brainchild.

Pangilinan was elected to the senate in 2001 and was re-elected six years thereafter.

In 1997, he left the country for Boston, Massachusetts, along with his wife Sharon Cuneta and daughter, to pursue his Master of Public Administration at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government where he graduated with a general average of A-.

In 1997, he finished his post-graduate studies at the Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government with a degree of Master of Science in Public Administration with an area of concentration in Strategic Management.

He married actress and television personality Sharon Cuneta on April 28, 1996. Together, they have two daughters and one adopted son. He is also the stepfather of actress and singer KC Concepcion, Cuneta's daughter whom he legally adopted.

As an educator and academician, he taught constitutional, labor and civil law at the Ateneo de Manila University from 1993 to 2000.

He entered mainstream politics in 1988 in the first free electoral exercise after the Marcos dictatorship. He was elected the youngest councilor of Quezon City. In 1992, he lost in the congressional elections in Quezon City.

He believes in active citizenship that is why his involvement in civic affairs began even as a student in high school. He has over 20 years of civic and public service experience. He was the youngest elected city councilor of the Quezon City Council in 1988–1992. During his stint as QC councilor, he saw the need to unite and develop young legislators committed to strong, principled leadership among young legislators. He thus founded and established the National Movement of Young Legislators (NMYL) where he became founding president.

He served as chairman of the UP Diliman University Student Council in 1986 under the student political party SAMASA and was the first Student Regent of the UP Board of Regents in 1987. He was elected Philippine representative to the Committee on Youth Cooperation of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

As a student activist against the Marcos dictatorship, he ran and won as councilor of the UP University Student Council under the student party SAMASA (Sandigan para sa Mag-aaral at Sambayanan or Pillar for Students and the People) in 1985. He was later elected chairperson of the UP USC and became the first student representative at the UP Board of Regents.

Two other Pangilinan siblings also have connections in local show business via marriage. His sister, Angeli, is a talent manager who is married to singer Gary Valenciano since 1984. Another sibling, Anthony, a TV host, is married to former beauty queen and actress, Maricel Laxa.

He completed his elementary education at La Salle Green Hills in 1977. He completed his secondary education still in La Salle Green Hills in 1981.

Francis Pancratius "Kiko" Nepomuceno Pangilinan (Tagalog: [paŋɪˈlɪnɐn] ; born August 24, 1963) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who is currently serving as a Senator of the Philippines since 2016, having previously served from 2001 to 2013. Pangilinan’s political career began as a student activist in 1985, on the eve of the People Power Revolution. In the Senate, he served as Senate Majority Leader from 2004 to 2008. In May 2014, Pangilinan was appointed Presidential Assistant for Food Security and Agricultural Modernization by President Benigno Aquino III. Pangilinan ran for senator again in 2016 under the Liberal Party of the Philippines, placing 9th out of 12 winning candidates. He is currently the president of the party.

Francis Pancratius Nepomuceno Pangilinan was born on August 24, 1963 in Manila to Donato Tongol Pangilinan, Jr., an engineer and entrepreneur from Pampanga, and Emma Monasterial Nepomuceno, a public school teacher from Nueva Ecija and Marinduque. He has eight siblings.