Mateo Armando Tengco Caparas (December 28, 1923 – July 15, 2020) was a Filipino statesman, lawyer, and civic leader. He served as chair of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) under the administration of President

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 ...

Early life and education

Caparas was born on December 28, 1923, in

Cuyapo Cuyapo, officially the Municipality of Cuyapo ( ilo, Ili ti Cuyapo; tl, Bayan ng Cuyapo), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 68,066 people. Cuyapo is fr ...

, Philippines. His father was a lawyer who settled in Moncardo, Tarlac. He finished his secondary schooling at Bulacan High School in 1940 but was interrupted by the Second World War. He graduated cum laude from the University of the Philippines College of Law in 1949, where he joined the Upsilon Sigma Phi. He later finished his Master of Laws from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

in 1950.

Career

As a lawyer, Caparas practiced in Caloocan and specialized in labor law and tax cases. In 1960, he transferred his law practice to Manila when he was invited to join the Rotary Club. He represented the province of Bulacan during the 1971 Constitutional Convention. In 1988, he was appointed chair of the Presidential Commission on Good Government tasked to retrieve the Marcos administration's ill-gotten wealth. He is the first and only Filipino to date to be elected president of

Rotary International Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, prof ...

and the only Filipino trustee of Rotary Foundation. During his presidency, Rotary started the campaign to raise $120 million to eradicate polio by 2005. The campaign reportedly generated more than $240 million in two years.

Death

Caparas died on July 15, 2020, at the age of 96. He has three surviving children: Jorge, Matt, and Pilar; eight grandchildren; and two great granddaughters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caparas, Mateo 20th-century Filipino lawyers University of the Philippines alumni University of the Philippines College of Law alumni Harvard Law School alumni 1923 births 2020 deaths