Oscar Muñoz Orbos (born January 28, 1951), popularly known as Ka Oca, is a Philippine TV personality and host of GMA Network's ''

Debate with Mare at Pare ''Debate with Mare at Pare'' () is a Philippine television public affairs debate show broadcast by GMA Network GMA Network (Global Media Arts or simply GMA) is a Philippine free-to-air television and radio network. It is the flagship prop ...

''. Orbos was a former cabinet secretary, provincial governor, and vice presidential candidate. He is now a practicing lawyer and broadcaster.

Early life

Born in

Bani, Pangasinan Bani, officially the Municipality of Bani ( pag, Baley na Bani; ilo, Ili ti Bani; tgl, Bayan ng Bani), is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Pangasinan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 52,603 people. ...

, he completed his studies at 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 ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts in Economics The Bachelor of Economics (BEc or BEcon), or the "Bachelor of Applied Economics", is a bachelor's degree awarded by many universities and colleges for completion of an undergraduate program in economics, econometrics, or applied economics; the ...

in 1971. He enrolled in the

University of the Philippines College of Law The University of the Philippines College of Law (often referred to as UP Law) is the law school of the University of the Philippines Diliman. Formally established in 1911 in UP Manila, it is the third oldest continually-operating law school ...

and received his

Bachelor of Laws 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 ...

in 1975.

Private career

He became a legal assistant to the ''Paredes, Poblador, Nazareno, Azada and Tomacruz'' Law Firm from 1975 to 1976 and elevated to Associate Attorney in 1976. He became a ''Partner'' in 1980 and the firm was called the ''Poblador, Azada, Tomacruz, Paredes, Cacanindin and Orbos'' Law Firm. He resigned to the post in 1983 to help in the propaganda campaign to oust

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 ...

Politics

In 1987, Orbos ran and won as

congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

and represented the first district of

Pangasinan Pangasinan, officially the Province of Pangasinan ( pag, Luyag/Probinsia na Pangasinan, ; ilo, Probinsia ti Pangasinan; tl, Lalawigan ng Pangasinan), is a coastal province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region of Luzon. Its capit ...

from November 1987 to December 1989. He was cited as one of the most active congressmen in the 8th

Philippine Congress The Congress of the Philippines ( fil, Kongreso ng Pilipinas, italic=unset) is the legislature of the national government of the Philippines. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, although colloquially the ter ...

. He was cited as one of the 1989

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 ...

(TOYM) for Public Service and legislation. On January 4, 1990,

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 ...

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 ...

appointed him as secretary of the Department of Transportation and Communications. As secretary, one of the most notable contributions was the ''yellow lane'', where the two outermost lanes of 4-6 lane roads were allotted for public utility vehicles, mostly buses. He also facilitated the approval of cellular broadcast. This made it possible for companies to offer a new form of communication more popularly known as "cellular phones". On December 21, 1990, Orbos was appointed by Aquino as her executive secretary. During that time,

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

already occupied

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

and it had plans to make further attacks on

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

. Orbos facilitated measures for the repatriation and communication to

overseas Filipino workers Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) is a term often used to refer to Filipino migrant workers, people with Filipino citizenship who reside in another country for a limited period of employment. The number of these workers was roughly 1.77 million be ...

working in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

. He resigned on July 5, 1991 and returned to private life. He co-hosted GMA Network's ''Firing Line'', a TV panel talk show with

Teodoro Benigno Teodoro "Teddy" Benigno, Jr. (18 May 1923 – 3 June 2005) was a leading Filipino journalist with a career spanning seven decades. His writings first graced the print media in 1946, when he joined the Manila Tribune as a sportswriter and police be ...

, Mrs. Aquino's former press secretary. During the 1992 elections, he actively supported fellow Pangasinense

Fidel Ramos Fidel Valdez Ramos (, ; March 18, 1928 – July 31, 2022), popularly known as FVR and Eddie Ramos, was a Filipino general and politician who served as the 12th president of the Philippines from 1992 to 1998. He was the only career military ...

to the

presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified by a ...

. In 1995, he resigned as host of the TV program and ran for the position of Governor of

. He won the election via landslide. As governor, he initiated the establishment of a Provincial Action Center to provide public direct access to all provincial and national government offices to respond to needs of his constituency. Orbos gained the highest public approval rating as governor. Orbos served as the Governor of Pangasinan until 1998 and did not seek a reelection. He instead ran in the 1998 elections for the position of

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

as a running mate of

Renato de Villa Renato "Rene" Salud de Villa (born July 20, 1935) is a Filipino former police and military officer and government official. He served as Chief of Philippine Constabulary, Director-General of the Integrated National Police, and Chief of Staff of ...

. However, he lost to

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal Arroyo (, born April 5, 1947), often referred to by her initials GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician serving as one of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, House Deputy Spe ...

Debate Host

In late 1998, Orbos was offered by Menardo Jimenez, president of

GMA Network GMA Network (Global Media Arts or simply GMA) is a Philippine free-to-air television and radio network. It is the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Network, Inc. Its first broadcast on television was on October 29, 1961. GMA Network (f ...

to host an open debate program for TV. Jimenez is a native of

Dasol Dasol, officially the Municipality of Dasol ( pag, Baley na Dasol; ilo, Ili ti Dasol; tgl, Bayan ng Dasol), is a 3rd class municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Pangasinan, Philippines. According ...

, located in the first district of

. As a good friend, he gladly accepted the offer and was paired with Economics professor

Solita Monsod Solita “Winnie” Garduño Collás-Monsod, popularly known as Mareng Winnie (born July 29, 1940), is a Filipino broadcaster, host, economist, and columnist. She had been the 5th Director-General of the National Economic and Development Autho ...

, known as "Mareng Winnie." ''

'' became a phenomenal interactive and open talk show in the Philippines. The talk show was the only latetime TV program earning a high audience rating. Despite offers to enter again to public office, he refuse so because he already called his current job "political". He earned the respect of the public for being neutral on most issues.

Private life

His brother, Fr. Jerry Orbos, SVD, is a popular priest who regularly appears in Sunday TV healing masses. Fr. Orbos holds office in

Christ the King Mission Seminary The Divine Word Mission Seminary (also known as Christ the King Mission Seminary) is a Roman Catholic seminary in Quezon City, Philippines, run by the Divine Word Missionaries, more popularly known as the Society of the Divine Word (SVD). The s ...

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...

. His other brother,

Thomas Orbos Thomas "Tim" Muñoz Orbos is a Filipino businessman, government administrator and politician who was General Manager of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) and Undersecretary for Road Transport and Infrastructure of the Department ...

, was appointed acting chairman and General Manager of the

Metropolitan Manila Development Authority The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA; fil, Pangasiwaan sa Pagpapaunlad ng Kalakhang Maynila) is a government agency of the Philippines responsible for constituting the regional government of Metro Manila, comprising the capital ...

by President

Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945), also known as Digong, Rody, and by the initials DU30 and PRRD, is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the chairperson ...

. His co-host, Professor

, was his godmother during his

wedding A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vo ...

Awards and nominations

References

External links

GMA Network's ''Debate with Mare and Pare''GMA Network's ''Debate with Mare and Pare'' Internet voting
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orbos, Oscar Living people 20th-century Filipino lawyers Governors of Pangasinan People from Pangasinan University of the Philippines alumni Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Pangasinan Executive Secretaries of the Philippines Secretaries of Transportation of the Philippines Partido para sa Demokratikong Reporma politicians Candidates in the 1998 Philippine vice-presidential election Filipino television presenters 1951 births Corazon Aquino administration cabinet members GMA Network personalities GMA News and Public Affairs people 21st-century Filipino lawyers