Joseph Stephen Paduano (born January 22, 1965), also known by his

nom de guerre A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Carapali Lualhalti, is a Filipino politician who previously served as the

House Minority Leader Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, also known as floor leaders, are congresspeople who coordinate legislative initiatives and serve as the chief spokespersons for their parties on the House floor. These leaders are ele ...

from 2020 to 2022. He has been the

party-list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can ...

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 ...

for

Abang Lingkod Abang Lingkod () is a political organization with representation in the House of Representatives of the Philippines. It aims to represent the interest of Filipino farmers and fishermen. History Abang Lingkod registered on December 22, 2009, to ...

since 2014. He was the national commander of the

Revolutionary Proletarian Army The Revolutionary Proletarian Army, also known by the acronym RPA, was the military wing of the Revolutionary Workers' Party (Rebolusyonaryong Partido ng Manggagawà ng Pilipinas) (RPM-P), a communist party that split from the Communist Party o ...

Alex Boncayao Brigade The Alex Boncayao Brigade (abbreviated as ABB; also known as the Sparrow Unit) was the urban assassination unit of the New People's Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines. Organized in 1984, the unit broke away from the ...

(RPA-ABB), an armed communist revolutionary group.

Activism

Prior to his political career, Paduano was a member of the

—Alex Boncayao Brigade, the military wing of the Revolutionary Workers' Party, a communist party that split from 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 ...

. He went on the become its national commander with the

of "Carapali Lualhalti." Paduano later disengaged from the group as he sought to participate in the 2013 elections as a party-list representative for Abang Lingkod, to which he was its first nominee.

Political career

Despite his party-list winning more than 260,215 votes in the 2013 elections and earning them one seat in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

, Paduano's group was disqualified by the

Commission on Elections An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

because it "didn't have a track record." However, on October 22, 2013, the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

reversed the election body's decision saying that the said party-list "need not prove track record." He was later sworn into office by then

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

Feliciano Belmonte as the 290th member of the House of Representatives on May 28, 2014. As the party-list's first nominee, Paduano continued to serve in the House of Representatives after his group was re-elected in the

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 ...

and 2019 elections. In the 18th Congress, Paduano served as Deputy Minority Leader. Of all the representatives who hail from

Negros Occidental Negros Occidental ( hil, Nakatungdang Negros; tl, Kanlurang Negros), officially the Province of Negros Occidental, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region. ...

, it was only Paduano who did not vote for Pateros–Taguig lone district representative

Alan Peter Cayetano Alan Peter Schramm Cayetano (Tagalog pronunciation: ajɛˈtano born October 28, 1970) is a Filipino politician, lawyer, and diplomat serving as a Senator since 2022 and previously from 2007 to 2017. He was the Senate Minority Leader from 20 ...

in 2019 and instead, voted for Manila 6th district representative Bienvenido Abante as he was hoping to remain as Deputy Minority Leader. Abante was later elected as Minority Floor Leader. He was a co-author to House Bill No. 3713, authored by Parañaque City 2nd district representative Joy Myra Tambunting, which sought to give a fresh 25-year franchise to

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 ...

. During the 13th hearing on the network's franchise renewal on July 9, 2020, Paduano withdrew his co-authorship of the bill after concurring with the observations of Sagip party-list representative and

Deputy Speaker The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

Rodante Marcoleta Rodante Dizon Marcoleta (born July 29, 1953) is a Filipino politician serving as the party-list representative for SAGIP since 2016. He is a former House Deputy Speaker of the 18th Congress from 2019 to 2022. A successful member of the relig ...

that the network "has been funneling some of its income to Big Dipper" to "avoid paying taxes". On October 19, 2020, he was unanimously elected to become the Minority Floor Leader after Abante's resignation on October 16, 2020. He is the first party-list representative to hold such a position.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paduano, Joseph Stephen 1965 births Filipino activists Living people Party-list members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines Politicians from Negros Occidental