Horacio "Boy" Morales, Jr. (September 11, 1943 – February 29, 2012) was a Filipino economist and politician. A prominent figure in the underground left during the martial law rule of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...

, he later served as Secretary of Agrarian Reform during the presidency of

Joseph Estrada Joseph Ejercito Estrada, (; born Jose Marcelo Ejercito; April 19, 1937), also known by the nickname Erap, is a Filipino politician and former actor. He served as the 13th president of the Philippines from 1998 to 2001, the 9th vice preside ...

Biography

Morales was born in

Moncada, Tarlac Moncada, officially the Municipality of Moncada ( pag, Baley na Moncada; ilo, Ili ti Moncada; tl, Bayan ng Moncada), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 62,81 ...

. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Economics degree from the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; fil, Pamantasan ng Pilipinas Unibersidad ng Pilipinas) is a state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 200 ...

in 1965, and a master's degree in economics from the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

in 1968. Morales entered government service in 1965, joining the economic staff of President Ferdinand Marcos as a senior economist. He eventually became the executive vice-president of the Development Academy of the Philippines. In 1977, Morales was named among the

Ten Outstanding Young Men The Ten Outstanding Young Americans (TOYA) program is an annual award given by JCI USA (formally known as The United States Junior Chamber or the Jaycees). It is given to ten Americans between 18 and 40 years of age who "exemplify the best attribu ...

of the Philippines by the Philippine Jaycees. On the day he was supposed to have received the award, he announced his resignation from the Marcos government to join the underground armed resistance linked to the

Communist Party of the Philippines The Communist Party of the Philippines ( fil, Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas) is a far-left, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist revolutionary organization and communist party in the Philippines, formed by Jose Maria Sison on 26 December 1968. It is desi ...

. Morales was active in the underground movement until his arrest in 1982. He remained detained until 1986, when the newly installed presidency of

Corazon Aquino Maria Corazon "Cory" Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (; ; January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was a Filipina politician who served as the 11th president of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. She was the most prominent figure of the 1986 People P ...

ordered his release together with other political prisoners. In 1987, Morales unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the

Philippine Senate The Senate of the Philippines (Filipino language, Filipino: ''Senado ng Pilipinas'', also ''Mataas na Kapulungan ng Pilipinas'' or "upper chamber") is the upper house of Congress of the Philippines, Congress of the bicameral legislature of the ...

under the banner of the Partido ng Bayan. Morales served as President of the

Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement The Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement, abbreviated as PRRM, is a non-governmental organization and institution formed in 1952 to assist peasants in the Philippines. As a movement, it was initiated by upper and middle class group of individual ...

from 1986 to 1998. In 1998, Morales was appointed to the Cabinet of President

as Secretary of Agrarian Reform. He served in that capacity until the removal of Estrada from office following the

Second EDSA Revolution The Second EDSA Revolution, also known as the Second People Power Revolution, EDSA 2001, or EDSA II (pronounced ''EDSA Two'' or ''EDSA Dos''), was a political protest from January 17–20, 2001, which peacefully overthrew the government of Jose ...

. Morales also headed Estrada's political party, the

Partido ng Masang Pilipino The Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (), formerly ''Partido ng Masang Pilipino'' (), is a populist political party in the Philippines. It is the political party of former Philippine President Joseph E. Estrada. In the May 1998 presidential election, ...

, and served as chairman of the board of the Development Academy of the Philippines during Estrada's term. Morales has remained active with non-governmental organizations since leaving government service. In December 2011, he was stricken by a heart attack in

Baguio Baguio ( , ), officially the City of Baguio ( ilo, Siudad ti Baguio; fil, Lungsod ng Baguio), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...

that left him in critical condition and in a coma. Morales remained in a coma until his death on February 29, 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morales, Horacio Jr. 1943 births 2012 deaths People from Tarlac Secretaries of Agrarian Reform of the Philippines Filipino communists University of the Philippines alumni Arroyo administration cabinet members Estrada administration cabinet members