Alfredo Paolo Dumlao Vargas III (born October 24, 1979), professionally known as Alfred Vargas, is a Filipino politician, actor, and model serving as the

representative Representative may refer to: Politics * Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people * House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities * Legislator, som ...

of Quezon City's 5th district since 2013. He previously served as a city councilor from the 2nd district of

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...

from 2010 to 2013. As an actor, he is known for his portrayal of Aquil and Amarro in the ''

Encantadia ''Encantadia'' is a Philippines, Filipino fantasy franchise produced and published by GMA Network. It consists of four television series that have run from 2005 to present and a single film. The first was shown in 2005 carrying the title alone ...

'' franchise.

Biography and Career

Vargas was born on October 24, 1979, in

San Juan, Metro Manila San Juan, officially the City of San Juan ( fil, Lungsod ng San Juan), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 126,347 people. It is geographica ...

to Alfredo "Freddieboy" Vargas, Jr. and Atty. Susana Dumlao-Vargas. He graduated in A.B. Management Economics in

Ateneo de Manila University , mottoeng = Light in the Lord , type = Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution , established = December 10, 1859 , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Jesuits) , academic_aff ...

. For his graduate studies, he went to the

University of the Philippines Diliman , image = University of The Philippines seal.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = Official Logo of UP Diliman , motto = Honor and Excellence , established = February 12, 194 ...

and earned his master's degree in Public Administration. He is currently the Representative of the 5th District of Quezon City. He has passed 17 Republic Acts including RA 10931

Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act The Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act, officially designated as Republic Act 10931, is a Philippine law that institutionalizes free tuition and exemption from other fees in state universities and colleges (SUCs), and local univer ...

, RA 10645 mandating PhilHealth coverage for all senior citizens, RA 10747 Rare Diseases Act of the Philippines. He constantly campaigns for vulnerable sector such as Persons With Disabilities and cancer patients. Likewise, he is known to push for traffic alleviation through Point-to-Point or P2P methods. As an actor, he started his career as a member of

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN (an initialism of its two predecessors' names, Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast broadcast network, network tha ...

Star Magic ABS-CBN Center for Communication Arts, Inc., trade name, doing business as Star Magic (formerly known as ABS-CBN Talent Center), is the Talent agency, talent agency owned by ABS-CBN Corporation based in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines t ...

(formerly Star Circle) acting workshop Batch 10. From there, he had his TV role in the drama soap opera, Pangako Sa'yo, from the same network. But this Ateneo de Manila graduate was acting in theatre long before the talent scouts lured him into television. His breakthrough role came in the film ''Bridal Shower''. After this, Vargas moved to the

GMA Network GMA Network (Global Media Arts or simply GMA) is a Philippine free-to-air television and radio network. It is the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Network, Inc. Its first broadcast on television was on October 29, 1961. GMA Network (f ...

where he featured in three shows in Philippine television: the daytime drama series, ''Daisy Siete'', the fantasy series, ''

'' (as Aquil), and its prequel series ''

Etheria ''Etheria: Ang Ikalimang Kaharian ng Encantadia'' (International title: ''Etheria: The Fifth Kingdom of Encantadia'') is a Philippine television drama fantasy series broadcast by GMA Network. The series is the second installment of the Encantad ...

'' (as Amarro, Aquil's father). He played the leading role on the GMA daytime series '' Muli'', opposite the Malaysian actress Carrie Lee and

Marian Rivera Marian Rivera Gracia-Dantes (; born 12 August 1984) is a Filipino recording artist, actress, and commercial model. She gained prominence as a widely-acclaimed actress for her roles in '' MariMar'', ''Dyesebel'', '' Amaya'', ''Darna'' and '' Te ...

as well as being part of the cast of ''

Impostora ''Impostora'' (International title: ''The Impostor'' / ) is a 2007 Philippine television drama series broadcast by GMA Network. Directed by Maryo J. de los Reyes, it stars Sunshine Dizon and Iza Calzado. The series is loosely based on a 1993 ...

'' in 2007. In 2008, he worked again with

in ''

Dyesebel ''Dyesebel'' () is a Filipino comic book character, conceived by Mars Ravelo and drawn by Elpidio Torres. Dyesebel is a mermaid, who eventually gains full human form through a deal with a sea-witch. Aside appearing in Pilipino Komiks, Dyesebe ...

''. He is also part of the upcoming installment of ''

Una Kang Naging Akin ''Una Kang Naging Akin'' (International title: ''When You Were Mine'' / ) is a 2008 Philippine television drama romance series broadcast by GMA Network. Based on a 1991 Philippine film of the same title, the series is the tenth instalment of '' ...

'' co-starring Angelika dela Cruz, in which he plays "Ronnie". His most recent movie projects include ''Status: Single'' and ''

When I Met U ''When I Met U'' is a 2009 Filipino romantic comedy film directed by Joel Lamangan and starring Richard Gutierrez and KC Concepcion. The screenplay by Aloy Adlawan was written for Jose Javier Reyes to direct; Reyes later left, citing "creative ...

''. He is set to do an indie film, ''Amamanhig''. In 2009, he appeared in ''

All About Eve ''All About Eve'' is a 1950 American Drama (film and television), drama film written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and produced by Darryl F. Zanuck. It is based on the 1946 short story "The Wisdom of Eve" by Mary Orr, although Orr does ...

'' where he is reunited with his

castmates

Sunshine Dizon Sunshine Dizon (born Margaret Sunshine Cansancio Dizon; July 3, 1983) is an award-winning Filipino actress, director and producer. She is often called as the “''Daytime Drama Queen''” by various media outlets for her acting prowess and a ...

Iza Calzado Maria Izadora Ussher Calzado-Wintle (born August 12, 1982), known professionally as Iza Calzado (), is a Filipino actress, television host, dancer and model. She is dubbed as the "''Goddess of Horror Films''" by local media for her acting prowes ...

, and

Mark Anthony Fernandez Mark Anthony Lacsamana Fernandez (born January 18, 1979) is a Filipino actor. He is the son of actor Rudy Fernandez and actress-politician Alma Moreno. Career He first rose to prominence when he was once a former member of one of the famous ...

. He then made a villainous turn when he played the pirate captain Lima Wong in ''

Zorro Zorro (Spanish language, Spanish for 'fox') is a fictional character created in 1919 by American pulp magazine, pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo of Los Angeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed a ...

''. He went on to play "Gabriel" in ''

Darna Darna () is a Filipina superheroine created by writer Mars Ravelo and artist Nestor Redondo. The character's first appearance was in ''Pilipino Komiks'' (Ace Publications, Inc.) #77 on May 13, 1950. Darna is a retooling of Ravelo's earlier cha ...

'' but had to leave the series as he applied for candidacy for councilor. In 2010, Alfred Vargas was reappearing in "Darna", becoming a successful reporter. In December 2010, he returned to ABS-CBN and did projects for the network without contract as he was a public servant serving and cannot be exclusive. In January 2017, he returned to his home network

and it will serve as Vargas comeback project after being on a hiatus for 2 years. This led to a familiar role as "Amarro", the father of Aquil in Encantadia's remake. He was working on a GMA soap opera, which turned out to be ''

Kambal, Karibal ''Kambal, Karibal'' (International title: ''Heart & Soul'' / ) is a Philippine television drama supernatural series broadcast by GMA Network. Directed by Don Michael Perez, it stars Bianca Umali, Miguel Tanfelix, Pauline Mendoza and Kyline Alc ...

'' while still balancing his congressional work.

Politics

In Quezon City local elections for District 2 on May 10, 2010, he was elected city councilor, with the second-highest number of votes in the district. Vargas won for the

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, due to reapportioning from 2nd district to newly created 5th district of

which consist parts of

Novaliches Novaliches is a place that forms the northern areas of Quezon City, and encompasses the whole area of North Caloocan. Etymology The name Novaliches came from the name of the small village of Novaliches in the town of Jérica, Spain. It was ...

area, under the

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...

( LP/ NP/ NPC/ NUP) coalition. His opponents were former old 2nd district Representatives Annie Rosa Susano (of Lakas) and Dante Liban (of the

United Nationalist Alliance The United Nationalist Alliance (UNA; ) is a political party in the Philippines. It was created as a multi-party electoral alliance replacing the former United Opposition (UNO) coalition for the 2013 midterm elections, before it was launche ...

). In

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, Vargas ran for another term unopposed. He garnered 85% of the votes, a very high statistic considering he was an unopposed candidate. In 2017, he left the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

for

PDP–Laban Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (), abbreviated as PDP–Laban, is a democratic socialist List of political parties in the Philippines, political party in the Philippines founded in 1982. It was part of the country's ruling party al ...

, the ruling party under President

Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945), also known as Digong, Rody, and by the initials DU30 and PRRD, is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the chairperson ...

. In

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, Vargas was reelected under the local ticket of

Hugpong ng Pagbabago Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP; ) is a regional political party and former political alliance in the Philippines. Formed in 2018 by Sara Duterte, the party was established in support of President Rodrigo Duterte's administration, and was the administrat ...

, defeating 4 other candidates. Being term-limited, Vargas ran for councilor and switched places with his brother, councilor Patrick Michael Vargas, in

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

. They both won in the elections.

House Committee and Memberships

Republic Acts

Serving two terms as a Congressman of District 5, Quezon City, Rep. Alfred Vargas was able to pass 17 Republic Acts:

Filmography

Television

Film

Awards

As a public servant, Congressman Alfred Vargas garnered the following awards: *2013 MWWF Gintong Palad Award for Public Service *Dekada Awardee, Gallery of Distinction, Golden Screen Awards *Most Outstanding City Councilor, Manuel L. Quezon Bantayog Award, 2013 *Most Outstanding Councilor, Manuel L. Quezon Bantayog Award, 2012 *Special Award for Excellence in Public Service for 2012, Aliw Awards Foundation, Inc. *Gintong Kabataan Award, Bulacan Outstanding Youth Achievement Award, 2008 *Outstanding Surigaonon Award for Theater and Arts, Rotary Club, 2007 He won the following as an actor: *Best Actor, 10th Golden Screen Awards for ''Supremo *Eastwood Walk of Fame Award, 2012 *Huwarang Artista sa Larangan ng Serbisyo Publiko, Famas Awards, 2012 *Dangal ng Lipi Award, 2010 Best Actor, MTRCB, 2010 *Best Actor Nominee, Gawad Urian Awards, 2010 *Top 10 Bachelors of 2007, Cosmopolitan Magazine *Breakthrough Performance by an Actor, Golden Screen Awards, 2004 *2nd Golden Screen Entertainment TV Awards of Enpress – Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama series for ''Encantadia'' (nominated, tied with Pen Medina) *Gawad Urian – Best Supporting Actor for ''Bridal Shower'' (nominated) *Golden Screen Award – Breakthrough Performance by an Actor for ''Bridal Shower'' (won) *2012 35th Gawad Urian Awards – Best Actor (''Pinakamahusay na Pangunahing Aktor'') for ''Teoriya'' (nominated)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vargas, Alfred 1981 births Living people Ateneo de Manila University alumni Filipino male film actors Filipino male television actors Filipino male models People from San Juan, Metro Manila Star Magic ABS-CBN personalities GMA Network personalities Filipino actor-politicians People from Quezon City Male actors from Metro Manila Quezon City Council members Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Quezon City