Elpidio "Pidi" Frani Barzaga Jr. (born March 25, 1950) is a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

lawyer and politician from the province of

Cavite Cavite, officially the Province of Cavite ( tl, Lalawigan ng Kabite; Chavacano: ''Provincia de Cavite''), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region in Luzon. Located on the southern shores of Manila Bay and southwest ...

. He is the incumbent Congressman of

Dasmariñas Dasmariñas (colloquially shortened to Dasma), officially the City of Dasmariñas ( fil, Lungsod ng Dasmariñas), is a 1st class component city in the province of Cavite, Philippines. With a land area of and a population of 703,141 people acc ...

and is the mayor of the said city. During the 2020 House hearing on

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 ...

franchise renewal, Barzaga infamously cited

Wikipedia Wikipedia is a multilingual free online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and using a wiki-based editing system. Wikipedia is the largest and most-read refer ...

as his source. On July 10, 2020, Barzaga is one of the 70 representatives who voted to reject the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN. He is the congressman under National Unity Party (NUP).

Education

Barzaga graduated as

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...

of the Class of 1966 of Immaculate Conception Academy. After earning a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

from the

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 ...

, he completed his

Bachelor of Law Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

degree from the

Far Eastern University Far Eastern University (Filipino language, Filipino: ''Pamantasan ng Malayong Silanganan''), also referred to by its acronym FEU, is a Private university, private non-sectarian Liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Manila, Philippines ...

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

. After college, he taught law at the

Far Eastern University Institute of Law The Far Eastern University – Institute of Law, also known as FEU Law or IL, is the Legal Education Board-accredited law school of the Far Eastern University. It is one of the four earliest institutes that comprised the university in 1934. FE ...

from 1976 to 1992 and was a Bar Reviewer in Civil Law from 1983 to 1992.

Political career

Mayor of Dasmariñas

Barzaga was elected

Municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of Dasmariñas in 1998 and served in that office for nine years. On 2007, he defeated

incumbent The incumbent is the current holder of an official, office or position, usually in relation to an election. In an election for president, the incumbent is the person holding or acting in the office of president before the election, whether seek ...

representative

Gilbert Remulla Gilbert Cesar Catibayan Remulla (born September 5, 1970) is a Filipino journalist and politician. Biography Gilbert is the seventh and youngest child of former Governor Juanito R. Remulla and Ditas Catibayan Remulla. His brothers include curr ...

for the House of Representatives seat for the Second District of Cavite. His wife Jennifer succeeded Barzaga as mayor of Dasmariñas.

Congressman

In the House of Representatives, Barzaga serves as vice chairman of the Committee on Constitutional Amendments, Local Government, and Revision of Laws and is a member of the Committees on Appropriations, Civil Service and Professional Regulation, Good Government, Human Rights, Justice, Population and Family Relations, Public Works and Highways, Science and Technology, Suffrage and Electoral Reforms, Transportation, Veteran Affairs and Welfare and the Special Committee on Southern Tagalog Development. He figured prominently on issues concerning Meralco, Sulpicio Lines, the Impeachment Complaint, and Alabang Boys. He has authored and sponsored several bills including an act converting the Municipality of Dasmariñas into a component city, a resolution requesting an investigation into oil prices, a resolution requesting an investigation into bidding on updating the

Subic Bay Freeport Zone The Subic Special Economic and Freeport Zone, often shorterned as Subic Bay or Subic, is a special economic zone and freeport area covering portions of the city of Olongapo and the town of Subic in Zambales, and the towns of Morong and Herm ...

master development plan, and a resolution requesting an investigation of environmental issues during the construction of a casino in Subic Bay Freeport Zone. In 2009, along with fellow representatives of Cavite

Joseph Emilio Abaya Joseph Emilio "Jun" Aguinaldo Abaya (born May 28, 1966) is a Filipino politician, lawyer, and military officer. He was the Secretary of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) of the Philippines under the administration of P ...

and

Jesus Crispin Remulla Jesus Crispin "Boying" Catibayan Remulla (born March 31, 1961) is a Filipino lawyer, politician, and broadcaster currently serving as Secretary of Justice since 2022. He previously served as the representative of Cavite's 7th district from 2 ...

, Barzaga co-authored an act, unofficially titled The Cavite Congressional Reapportionment Act of 2009, bringing the representatives of Cavite from three to seven. In 2010 congressional elections he was won via landslide victory against his close opponent Ramon Campos of the

Nacionalista Party The Nacionalista Party (Filipino and Spanish: ''Partido Nacionalista''; ) is the oldest political party in both the Philippines and in Southeast Asia in general. It is responsible for leading the country throughout the majority of the 20th ce ...

. Serving as part of the House Prosecution panel, Barzaga was responsible for Article II of the 2012

Impeachment Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In ...

of SC Chief Justice

Renato Corona Renato Tereso Antonio Coronado Corona (October 15, 1948 – April 29, 2016) was a Filipino judge who was the 23rd chief justice of the Philippines from 2010 to 2012. He served as an associate justice after being appointed by President Gloria Ma ...

. Ironically, he is paired against his Remedial law professor from his law school days, former Assoc. Justice Serafin Cuevas, who is serving as lead defense counsel. In 2013 elections, he sought reelection for his last term under the

National Unity Party The National Unity Party, National United Party, Party of National Unity or National Unity Front may refer to: * National United Party of Afghanistan (founded 2003) * National Unity Party (Albania) * National United Party (Armenia), defunct * Natio ...

as well to

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 ...

. In 2015, he was criticized by the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines for threatening to cite Christine F. Herrera of The Standard in contempt, after the latter refused to name her sources of the alleged payola given to solons to railroad the passage of the controversial Bangsamoro Basic Law or BBL. Barzaga is one of the solons who voted "Yes" for the passage of BBL at the committee level. He supported the candidacy of

Mar Roxas Manuel "Mar" Araneta Roxas II (; born May 13, 1957) is a Filipino politician who served as a Senator of the Philippines. He is the grandson and namesake of former Philippine President Manuel Roxas. He served in the Cabinet of the Philippines as ...

in the 2016 Philippine elections. Barzaga predicted that

Grace Poe Mary Grace Natividad Sonora Poe-Llamanzares (baptized September 3, 1968) is a Filipino politician, businesswoman, educator, and philanthropist serving as a senator since 2013. She was the chairperson of the Movie and Television Review and Class ...

will not run as the running mate of Roxas, and instead will run under the Nationalist Peoples Coalition, with the idea of a Roxas-Aquino tandem to challenge the Grace- Chiz tandem. Barzaga declined to run for

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 ...

against Remulla, and instead ran for Mayor of Dasmariñas.

Denial of the renewal of ABS-CBN franchise

In 2020, Barzaga was prominently featured in the congressional hearings for

's "new 25-year franchise" issue when he cited

as his source of information. He is one of the 70 representatives who voted "yes" to "kill" (deny) the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN, in favor of the report from Technical Working Group.

Awards and honors

In 2008, he was the recipient of the Outstanding Alumnus Award from the Far Eastern University on the celebration of its 80th Founding Anniversary and the Most Distinguished Bedan Award from the San Beda College. He was acknowledged as one of the Most Outstanding Congressman of 2008 by the Congress Magazine.

Personal life

He is married to Jennifer Austria Barzaga, a registered nurse. They have three sons – Francisco ("Kiko"), Elpidio III, and Lorenzo. Their son, Francisco, is a councilor of the city since 2019. Genealogy Father's side Genealogy Mother's side *Elpidio Frani Barzaga Jr. was the son of Elpidio Mangubat Barzaga Sr. Elpidio Mangubat Barzaga Sr. was the son of Bernarda Sanchez Mangubat (born 1875) of Dasmarinas and Francisco Barzaga. Bernarda was the brother of Nicholas Sanchez Mangubat (Born 1859) in Marshall Island Spanish East Indies. Bernarda Mangubat was the son of Don Leterio(Eleuterio) Mangubat a native of Dasmarinas and former Gobernadorcillo and Juez de Paz of the pueblo

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Barzaga, Elpidio Jr. 1950 births Living people People from Dasmariñas Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Cavite 20th-century Filipino lawyers Academic staff of Far Eastern University San Beda University alumni National Unity Party (Philippines) politicians Lakas–CMD politicians Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino politicians Mayors of places in Cavite Duterte administration personnel