Guest of Honor and Speaker's Profile

Veteran legislator Migz Zubiri takes pride in being the husband to lovely Audrey; a loving father to Ma. Adriana, Juanmi and Santi; and, a good son to Governor Jose Ma. Zubiri, Jr. of Bukidnon and Victoria Fernandez-Zubiri of Libon, Albay.

In 2008, Senator Juan Miguel Migz F. Zubiri, at age 39, became the youngest Senate Majority Leader since the First Congress in 1946. He was always cited for his outstanding performance as the Representative of the 3rd District of Bukidnon from 1998 to 2007. He posted perfect attendance in the Plenary Sessions for 13 years in the House of Representatives and in the Senate. As Senate Majority Leader in the 14th Congress, Sen. Zubiri helped steer the Senate to achieve its remarkable accomplishment of having 650 bills enacted into laws. Truly, a Trabahador ng Senado.

Migz Zubiri authored and sponsored more than 20 major laws, both as a Congressman and as a Senator. A fervent advocate of the environment, he authored and sponsored RA 9513 or the Renewable Energy Act of 2008 and RA 9367 or the Biofuels Act of 2006, earning him the moniker Mr. Clean Energy. Both laws created millions of new jobs for farmers, skilled workers and professionals. These laws increased the incomes of millions of Filipino sugar cane and coconut farmers. These convinced Filipino and foreign businesses to expand and set up new industries.

Among the many laws he sponsored, principally authored or co-authored are: RA10072 Philippine Red Cross Act of 2009; RA10068 Organic Agriculture Act of 2010; RA 9147 Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act; RA 10121 Philippine Disaster Risk Management Act; RA 9165 Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002; RA 9504 Income Tax Exemption for Minimum Wage Earners; RA 9679 Home Development Mutual Fund Law of 2009 (Pag-IBIG Fund New Charter); RA 9904 Magna Carta for Homeowners and Homeowners Associations; and RA 9645 Declaring July 27 of Every Year as Araw ng Iglesia Ni Cristo and as Special Working Holiday;

He is also considered as the father of the New Cooperative Code being the principal sponsor and author of RA 9520 or the Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008.

In the last May 2016 elections, Migz returned to the Senate with a resounding a victory, with more than 16 million votes and having ranked 6 among the 12 elected Senators. Sen. Migz looks after the welfare, rights and interests of ordinary citizens.

In the 17th Congress, he wants to focus on legislation that will speed-up the infrastructure programs of the government through the establishment of the Philippine Infrastructure Masterplan Act (PIMA). This proposal envisions the construction of new mass rail transit (MRT) systems in Mega Manila, Metro Cebu and Metro Davao and other highly-urbanized areas as well as the establishment of the Mindanao Railways and modernization and expansion of the existing PNR routes. He will also push for the establishment of regional specialty hospitals such heart, lung, kidney, orthopaedic and children’s medical centers. He also filed bills on the reduction of personal income tax rates and corporate income tax rates as well as the removal of VAT in the sale of electricity and petroleum products.

Sen. Migz is a champion of the environment. He seeks to conserve, protect and sustainably use our natural resources: the bills on National Land Use and Sustainable Management of Forest Resources form part of his legislative agenda. In 2011, Migz founded the Pilipinas EcoWarriors, a watchdog group that monitored violations of environmental laws and pushed government to act through the use of social media.

He is the Vice Chairman of the Philippine Red Cross and has been its Governor for the past eighteen (18) years and an active member of the Red Cross Youth Committee. He is a trained first aider and a certified rescue diver. He published two books: the Philippine Cooperative Code of 2008, and Bukidnon: The Philippine Frontier.

He holds a Master of Environment and Natural Resources Management (MENRM) degree at the University of the Philippines Open University. He is a graduate of Agri-Business Management at the UP Los Baños and has been conferred four Honoris Causa Doctoral degrees by several private and state universities.