Héctor Jose Ferrer Ríos (March 27, 1970 – November 5, 2018) was a Puerto Rican

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and attorney. He served as a legislator in the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico from 2001 to 2012 for three consecutive terms. He was the president of the

Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico The Popular Democratic Party (, PPD) is a political party in Puerto Rico that advocates to continue as a Commonwealth of the United States with self-governance. The party was founded in 1938 by dissidents from the Liberal Party of Puerto Rico, Pu ...

(PPD) from 2008 to 2011, and later from 2017 to October 2018.

Early life and education

Ferrer was born on March 27, 1970, in

San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John (disambiguation), Saint John, most commonly refers to: * San Juan, Puerto Rico * San Juan, Argentina * San Juan, Metro Manila, a highly urbanized city in the Philippines San Juan may also refer to: Places Arge ...

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

. He was the second son of Eugenio Ferrer Colom and Maria Elisa Ríos Candelas . When he was 16 years old, Ferrer played at the Puerto Rico Amateur Baseball Federation. He played mostly as an

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

and was a member of several teams like Cupey, Vega Alta, San Lorenzo, Aibonito, Cidra, and Cayey. Ferrer finished his amateur baseball career with a

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

of .250, and 32 hits in 128 at-bats. Ferrer received a sports

scholarship A scholarship is a form of Student financial aid, financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, Multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion, athleti ...

in baseball to study at the

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the Public university, public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referre ...

. There, he received a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

with a major in Economics and Industrial Relations. He then received a

Juris doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from the School of Law of the

Interamerican University of Puerto Rico The Inter American University of Puerto Rico (Spanish: ''Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico''; often abbreviated to ''UIPR'' or ''Inter'') is a private Christian university with its main campus in San Germán, Puerto Rico. It also has ...

. In March 1997, he was one of the top 10 grades at the

bar exam A bar examination is an examination administered by the bar association of a jurisdiction that a lawyer must pass in order to be admitted to the bar of that jurisdiction. Australia Administering bar exams is the responsibility of the bar associat ...

. After graduating, Ferrer worked as a private attorney.

Political career

Ferrer was elected to the

Puerto Rico House of Representatives The House of Representatives of Puerto Rico () is the lower house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the bicameral territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The House, together with the Senate, control the legislative branch of the go ...

at the 2000 general elections, to represent District 29. During his first term, he served as majority whip for the PPD, and presided the committees of Ethics, Federal and International Affairs, and Consumer Affairs. Ferrer was reelected at the 2004 general elections, this time as a representative at-large. After his party lost the majority in both the

Senate 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 ...

and the House, Ferrer took over as minority speaker. In

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, Ferrer was reelected for a third consecutive term, being the candidate with the most votes for the position among all candidates. Due to the defeat of the PPD in the race for governor and both the Senate and the House, Ferrer remained as minority speaker. The defeat of the PPD led to the resignation of Aníbal Acevedo Vilá as president. Héctor Ferrer became president of the party on November 10, 2008, after a meeting of the board of directors which included veteran leaders like Héctor Luis Acevedo,

Rafael Hernández Colón Rafael Hernández Colón (October 24, 1936 – May 2, 2019) was a Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 1973 to 1977 and 1985 to 1993 for a total of three terms. An experienced politician, Hernández held the ...

, and Miguel Hernández Agosto. In 2011, he surrendered the presidency of the party to new gubernatorial candidate, Alejandro García Padilla. He had initially announced his intentions to run for Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, but then announced his decision to run for mayor of

, against incumbent Jorge Santini at the 2012 general elections. However, after being arrested for alleged

domestic abuse Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. In a broader sense, abuse including nonphysical abuse in such settings is called domestic abuse. The term "domestic violence" is often use ...

, he dropped his candidacy and moved away from politics. Five months later, the case against Ferrer was archived and no charges were presented against him. During his time away from politics, Ferrer continued to work as an attorney. He also served as a panelist and commentator on the TV program ''Los Seis de la Tarde'', transmitted via Univision Puerto Rico. In 2016, Ferrer returned to politics and ran for Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico along Gubernatorial candidate

David Bernier David Enrique "Quique" Bernier Rivera (; born January 21, 1977) is a Puerto Rican dentist and politician that has served in various roles in public service in Puerto Rico. Bernier first served as executive director of the Office of Youth ...

. He lost to Jenniffer González. In February 2017, Ferrer was reelected by his party as President. In October 2018, he surrendered the presidency to Aníbal José Torres.

Personal life

He was married to Sonia Marie Santiago with whom he had two children, Hector Enrique Ferrer Santiago and Marielisa Ferrer Santiago. After his divorce he had a brief marriage to Attorney Jacqueline Martinez. Once divorced, he had a relationship Elisa "Beba" Hernández for seven years, with whom he had a son, Eduardo José Ferrer Hernandez. Ferrer's brother, Eduardo, was elected to the House of Representatives in 2012. Ferrer was an avid athlete and practiced a variety of sports, including

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

jogging Jogging is a form of trotting or running at a slow or leisurely pace. The main intention is to increase physical fitness with less stress on the body than from faster running but more than walking, or to maintain a steady speed for longer periods ...

cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

, and

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

, among others.

Domestic abuse scandal

In February 2012, Ferrer was detained after allegations of

against his long-term partner, Elisa Hernández. Initially, Hernández was granted a protection order against Ferrer for one year. Shortly after, however, she asked for it to be rescinded. With conflicting versions surrounding the circumstances of the event and how it was handled, Ferrer resigned all of his political positions five days after the accusation. Several months later, the Office of the Special Independent Prosecutor's Panel (FEI in Spanish) determined there was insufficient evidence against Ferrer and opted not to press any charges against him. Several days after Ferrer's arrest, Hernández presented a sworn statement in which she claimed she was "coaxed by government figures to accuse" Ferrer.

Health and death

In September 2015, Ferrer announced that he was diagnosed with cancer in the esophagus. He went under numerous treatments like

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

and

radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'' consisting of photons, such as radio waves, microwaves, infr ...

. In 2016, Ferrer announced he was free of cancer. In September 2018, Ferrer had a relapse for which he was hospitalized. He suffered some complications after a surgical procedure, but was released from the hospital after a week. Ferrer died almost two months later, on November 5, 2018, at the Auxilio Mutuo Hospital in Hato Rey after surgery. At the moment of Ferrer's death, his parents and youngest son were beside him. Carlos Delgado Altieri, Secretary General for the PPD and mayor of Isabela, Puerto Rico, confirmed the news and called it "something quick and unexpected". As a result, Governor

Ricardo Rosselló Ricardo Antonio Rosselló Nevares (; born March 7, 1979) is an American former politician, businessman, neurobiologist and educator. He served as Governor of Puerto Rico from 2017 until his resignation in 2019. In 2021, he returned to active ...

declared five days of mourning in honor of Ferrer.

Notes

References

External links

Héctor Ferrer Biography
at the House of Representatives website , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferrer, Hector 1970 births 2018 deaths Deaths from throat cancer in the United States Deaths from esophageal cancer in the United States Interamerican University of Puerto Rico alumni Lawyers from San Juan, Puerto Rico Politicians from San Juan, Puerto Rico Presidents of the Popular Democratic Party (Puerto Rico) Popular Democratic Party members of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico Puerto Rican party leaders Puerto Rican people of Catalan descent Puerto Rican people of Spanish descent University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill alumni 21st-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico