Aurelio Matias Umali (born January 25, 1966) is a Filipino politician from the third district of

Nueva Ecija Nueva Ecija, officially the Province of Nueva Ecija ( tgl, Lalawigan ng Nueva Ecija , also ; ilo, Probinsia ti Nueva Ecija; pag, Luyag/Probinsia na Nueva Ecija; Kapampangan: ''Lalawigan/Probinsia ning Nueva Ecija''), is a landlocked province i ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. Umali is the youngest elected governor in the province since his first government office position. He currently serves as a

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

. He was a governor for three terms from 2007 to 2016 and was re-elected in 2019.

Early life and education

Aurelio Umali was born in

Santa Rosa, Nueva Ecija Santa Rosa, officially the Municipality of Santa Rosa ( Tagalog: ''Bayan ng Santa Rosa'') is a 1st class municipality in the province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 75,649 people. Santa Rosa is ...

, on January 25, 1966. In 1990 he finished Bachelor of Laws degree at

San Beda College es, Universidad de San Beda , image = San Beda University seal.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = University Seal , latin_name = Universitas Sancti Bedæ , former_names ...

in Manila. He also graduated in

De La Salle University De La Salle University ( fil, Pamantasang De La Salle or Unibersidad ng De La Salle), also referred to as DLSU, De La Salle or La Salle, is a private university, private, Catholic Church, Catholic coeducational research university run by the I ...

with a degree in business administration and Bachelor of Arts in political science at the

University of Santo Tomas The University of Santo Tomas (also known as UST and officially as the Pontifical and Royal University of Santo Tomas, Manila) is a private, Catholic research university in Manila, Philippines. Founded on April 28, 1611, by Spanish friar Miguel ...

Career

Prior to his entry in politics in 2001, Umali served as Deputy Commissioner of the National Telecommunications Commission. Prior to that he was Procurement and Sub-Contract Director of Lucent Technologies. He entered politics as Congressman of Nueva Ecija's 3rd District by defeating Edward Thomas Joson and later on elected as governor in 2007 after defeating another Joson. After his term as governor, he was succeeded by his wife Czarina Domingo-Umali for one term. He had his attempt to come back as a Congressman of the province's 3rd district but lost to neophyte politician Rosanna "Ria" Vergara. Umali successfully returned to government after being elected again as provincial governor in the last 2019 mid-term elections despite of the dismissal and perpetual disqualification from the Office of the Ombudsman. In 2016, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales found Umali guilty on the 4 counts of graft and 3 counts of malversation for the alleged misuse of his PDAF in 2005. Umali's P15-million PDAF was meant to buy irrigation pumps and fertilizers for his constituents in Laur, Gabaldon, Bongabon, Santa Rosa, General Mamerto Natividad, and Cabanatuan City. To do this, Umali downloaded millions to his NGO partners – P12 million ($240,975) to the Masaganang Ani para sa Magsasaka Foundation Incorporated (MAMFI) and P3 million ($60,244) to Samahan. Umali made it appear that the funds were used to purchase 7,920 bottles of liquid fertilizers and 15 irrigation pumps however, there was no real purchase at all since the liquid fertilizers had been sourced from another Napoles company, Nutrigrowth Philippines. Umali was then dismissed and bared on holding any public office. The graft and malversation charges against Nueva Ecija Governor Aurelio Umali before the Sandiganbayan Second Division have been dismissed due to the violation of his right to speedy disposition of cases.

References

External links

Province of Nueva Ecija
, - , - Living people Lakas–CMD (1991) politicians 1966 births People from Cabanatuan De La Salle University alumni University of Santo Tomas alumni San Beda University alumni Liberal Party (Philippines) politicians Governors of Nueva Ecija Independent politicians in the Philippines Members of Iglesia ni Cristo Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Nueva Ecija {{Philippines-politician-stub