Gregorio Honasan

Gregorio Ballesteros Honasan II (born March 14, 1948), better known as Gringo Honasan, is a retired Philippine Army officer who led unsuccessful coups d'état against President Corazon Aquino. He played a key role in the 1986 EDSA Revolution that toppled President Ferdinand Marcos.

In this Philippine name, the middle name or maternal family name is Ballesteros and the surname or paternal family name is Honasan.

The Honorable Gringo Honasan
Secretary of Information and Communications Technology
Incumbent
Assumed office July 1, 2019
President	Rodrigo Duterte
Preceded by	Rodolfo Salalima Eliseo Rio Jr. (OIC)
Senator of the Philippines
In office June 30, 2007 – June 30, 2019
In office June 30, 1995 – June 30, 2004
Senate positions Chair of the Philippine Senate National Defense and Security Committee In office July 25, 2016 – November 20, 2018 Preceded by Antonio Trillanes Succeeded by Panfilo Lacson Chair of the Philippine Senate Peace, Unification and Reconciliation Committee In office July 25, 2016 – November 20, 2018 Preceded by Teofisto Guingona III Succeeded by Ronald dela Rosa Chair of the Philippine Senate Agrarian Reform Committee In office July 26, 2010 – July 25, 2016 Preceded by Francis Pangilinan Succeeded by Alan Peter Cayetano Majority Floor Leader of the Senate of the Philippines Acting In office July 22, 2013 – July 23, 2013 Preceded by Tito Sotto Succeeded by Alan Peter Cayetano
Personal details
Born	Gregorio Ballesteros Honasan II (1948-03-14) March 14, 1948 Baguio, Philippines
Nationality	Filipino
Political party	UNA (2012–present)
Other political affiliations	Independent (1990–2012)
Spouse(s)	Jane Umali
Children	5[1][2]
Residence	Manila
Alma mater	San Beda College Philippine Military Academy (BA)
Profession	Soldier
Awards	Presidential Government Medal Distinguished Conduct Star
Religion	Christian
Military service
Allegiance	Philippines
Branch/service	Philippine Army
Years of service	1971–1989
Rank	Colonel
Battles/wars	Insurgency in the Philippines

After 1986, he led a series of unsuccessful but violent coup attempts against the administration of Corazon Aquino. President Fidel Ramos granted him amnesty in 1992. He entered politics and became a senator from 1995 to 2004, and again from 2007 to 2018. He ran for vice president of the Philippines, being Jejomar Binay's running-mate in 2016, but were defeated by Leni Robredo and Rodrigo Duterte respectively.

On November 22, 2018, President Duterte appointed Honasan as secretary of Department of Information and Communications Technology which took effect after his term in the Senate.[3] Eliseo Rio served as acting secretary while Honasan was still serving his term in the Senate.

Early life

Gregorio Honasan was born in Baguio to Colonel Romeo Gillego Honasan and Alicia "Alice" Masip Ballesteros, both from Sorsogon province.[4] Honasan spent his elementary days at San Beda College from Kindergarten to Grade 6. After which, he went to Taiwan and studied at the Dominican School, Taipei, Taiwan. He then returned to the Philippines and finished his high school at Don Bosco Technical College. He attained his Bachelor of Science degree at the Philippine Military Academy, where he received the title of "Class Baron", the academy's highest leadership award.[4]

Military career

After graduating in 1971, he joined the Philippine Army's special forces, Scout Ranger Regiment and went into combat against separatist and communist insurgents in Luzon and Mindanao. He was wounded in action at battles in Lebak and Jolo.[4] Making his way up through the armed forces, he became aide-de-camp to Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile in 1974, and later became the Defense Ministry's Chief of Security.

Concurrent with his position as security chief, he was a board member of the Northern Mindanao Development Bank and president of the Beatriz Marketing Company.[5]

Political career

People Power

In 1986, Honasan and a cabal of colonels, backed by Enrile, tried to use popular unrest to overthrow the dictatorship of President Ferdinand Marcos.[6] When the plot was uncovered, the conspirators sought refuge in the military headquarters and called on civilians, the media, and the Catholic Church for protection. Hundreds of thousands of people served as human shields to protect Honasan and his men from Marcos' forces, sparking the 1986 People Power Revolution that led to Marcos' fall from power and the installation of Corazon Aquino as president.

Coups d'état

Aquino awarded Honasan a Distinguished Conduct Star for the EDSA Revolution and the Presidential Government Medal in 1986. Under the new government, he was head of a special group in the defense ministry. Using his position, he was covertly involved in various coup attempts against Aquino.[6] On August 28, 1987, fighting broke out in the streets and Honasan ordered his men to attack government installations, resulting in the deaths of dozens, including many civilians. The attack was put down by government forces, but Honasan was able to escape. He was later captured and imprisoned on a Navy ship in Manila Bay. He later escaped once again by convincing his guards to join his cause.[6]

Senate

Philippine President Fidel Ramos, who was elected in 1992, granted amnesty to his comrade Honasan. Honasan utilized his rebel infamy to enter politics in 1995, becoming the first independent candidate in Philippine history to win a seat in the Senate. He was re-elected in 2001, filled the vacant seat left by Senator Teofisto Guingona Jr., who was appointed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo as Vice President. From April 30 to May 1, 2001, together with Juan Ponce Enrile, Miriam Defensor Santiago, Panfilo Lacson and Vicente Sotto III, he led the EDSA III protests in support of Joseph Estrada.[7][8] On May 1, 2001, the protesters stormed Malacañang Palace.[8]

He left the Senate when his term expired in 2004. In the general election held in May 2007, he was again elected to the Senate. Running as an independent candidate, he polled some 11.6 million votes, finishing 10th out of 37 candidates for 12 Senate vacancies. He took up his post on June 30. He was reelected during the 2013 elections, placing twelfth, his fourth consecutive term.

On June 2015, Justice Undersecretary Justiniano amended the complaint against Senator Honasan for his alleged part in the Pork Barrel Scam involving allegations of corrupt malversation of public funds.

During the 2016 Philippine general elections, Honasan was Jejomar Binay's running mate under the United Nationalist Alliance party. Honasan placed 6th in the vice presidential race, garnering only 788,881 or 1.92% of votes.[9]

Information and Communications Technology Secretary

On November 22, 2018, President Duterte appointed Honasan as secretary of Department of Information and Communications Technology. Acting Secretary Eliseo Rio held the position until the end of Honasan's Senate term. Honasan was sworn into the office on July 1, 2019[10] and confirmed by the Commission on Appointments on September 11, 2019.[11]

In January 2020, the Department was flagged by the Commission on Audit of the Philippines for 300 million pesos worth of cash advances of confidential funds under Honasan. Undersecretary of Operations Eliseo Rio also questioned the cash advances as he resigned from his position.[12] Secretary Honasan and Undersecretary Rio later issued a joint statement to state that the confidential expenses were "lawful and legitimate" and that "Undersecretary Rio’s resignation was due to personal reasons, and not due to any rift with the Secretary, nor to any anomaly in the Confidential Expense."[13]

In popular culture

• Portrayed by veteran comedian Chiquito in the 1988 comedy film Gorio Punasan, Rebel Driver. (Instead Honasan's name, comedy title of Gringo Honasan to replacing as Gorio Punasan in the film)
• Portrayed by character actor Rez Cortez in the 1988 true to life drama TV film A Dangerous Life.
• Portrayed by action star Robin Padilla in the 1994 true to life action drama film Col. Billy Bibit, RAM.

References

1. Rappler news magazine article with video accessed 14 March 2016
2. Kai Honasan writes moving story about growing up with father Sen. Gringo Honasan Archived 2016-03-15 at the Wayback Machine news magazine article with video accessed 14 March 2016
3. "Duterte formally appoints Honasan as DICT chief". GMA News.
4. "Senators Profile - Gregorio B. Honasan II". www.senate.gov.ph.
5. "i-site.ph - Gregorio Honasan". Archived from the original on 2005-12-24. Retrieved 2006-02-24.
6. "Honasan: Anti-Marcos poster boy turned coup leader". ABS-CBN News.
7. "Miriam to GMA: Resign or we will storm palace". The Philippine Star. April 30, 2001. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
8. "Remembering the Iglesia-led EDSA 3". Rappler. August 25, 2015. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
9. "#PHVote 2016 Official Election Results". Rappler.
10. "Veteran lawmaker Honasan to lead DICT". dict.gov.ph. July 2, 2019.
11. Reganit, Jose Cielito (September 11, 2019). "CA confirms appointment of Honasan as DICT chief". Philippine News Agency.
12. Lopez, Melissa Luz (February 3, 2020). "Rio: ₱300-M of DICT's confidential funds released as cash advances to Honasan". CNN Philippines.
13. "OFFICIAL JOINT STATEMENT OF SECRETARY GREGORIO B. HONASAN II AND UNDERSECRETARY ELISEO M. RIO, JR". dict.gov.ph. February 7, 2020.

External links

• Official campaign site of Gregorio Honasan
• Gringo Honasan, Election 2016 Data

Senate of the Philippines
Preceded by Francis Pangilinan	Chair of the Philippine Senate Agrarian Reform Committee 2010–2016	Succeeded by Alan Peter Cayetano
Preceded by Antonio Trillanes	Chair of the Philippine Senate National Defense and Security Committee 2016–2019	Succeeded by Panfilo Lacson
Preceded by Teofisto Guingona III	Chair of the Philippine Senate Peace, Unification and Reconciliation Committee 2016–2019	Succeeded by Ronald dela Rosa
Political offices
Preceded by Tito Sotto	Majority Floor Leader of the Senate of the Philippines Acting July 22, 2013 – July 23, 2013	Succeeded by Alan Peter Cayetano
Preceded by Eliseo Rio Jr. OIC	Secretary of Information and Communications Technology 2019–present	Incumbent
Order of precedence
Preceded by Alfonso Cusi as Secretary of Energy	Order of Precedence of the Philippines as Secretary of Information and Communications Technology	Succeeded by Ambassadors of the Philippines (while at their posts)