Guest of Honor and Speakers’ Profile

Our Guest of Honor is perhaps the only one from among the present crop of senators who can seamlessly switch from one career to another — being an accomplished public servant, lawmaker, sportsman, and artist in his own right. He has excelled in all these fields — uncompromising and giving his best — as a true master of his fate. So far, he has sponsored and authored more than a hundred laws, making him one of the most prolific senators.

Except for a brief period of two years, Sotto has been in public service for the past 30 years, starting in 1988 when he entered politics as Vice Mayor of Quezon City. He was by then an accomplished actor, artist, musician and sportsman.

Unknown to many, our Guest of Honor is a multi-awarded bowler, winning in several international competitions. He showed his bowling skills at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran where he took up Bachelor of Arts, major in English. Seven times, he was part of the national bowling team and garnered several gold medals numerous times. The height of his bowling came in 1978 when he represented the national team at the AMF Bowling World Cup in Bogota, Colombia and in 1984, in Sydney, Australia.

At the same time, he also excelled in the arts. He conceptualized, produced and recorded the VST and Co. which churned out Original Pilipino Music (OPM) hits one after the other. He also produced Filipino Artists like Sharon Cuneta, Freddie Aguilar, Rico J. Puno, Anthony Castelo, Asin, among many others. A Lyricist and a tunesmith, our Guest of Honor provided the voice, the words, composed and arranged around 80 songs, based on the registry of the OPM.

Championing the war against illegal drugs, our Guest of Honor won by a landslide the vice-mayoral race in Quezon City. During these period he was also named Vice Chairman of Citizens’ Drug watch. Fulfilling his vow to drive out illegal drugs, he founded and organized the Quezon City Anti-Drug Council, which had been replicated in many local government units. He would pursue with unrelenting vigor the war against illegal drugs, whether in the Senate or in government service. He had chaired the Senate committee on illegal drugs and led the Dangeous Drug Board as chair from July 2008 to Nov. 29. He is the author of Republic Act 9165 or the “Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002,” which is still enforced up to present. For his anti-illegal drug stance, he was twice honoured by the US-based International Narcotics Enforcement Officers Association, where he is also a member.

He capped his LGU stint by founding the Vice Mayors League of the Philippines, where he was its first president and president emeritus thereafter.

In 1992, he sought higher office and thus began his 26 years public service as senator. He topped the senatorial race. Following the 2016 elections, he is currently serving his fourth term in the Senate, having served two consecutive terms from 1992 to 2004 and his re-election to the Senate in 2010. He has chaired many committees, among them public services, science and technology, local government and tourism. He also chaired the joint oversight committees on local government and tourism. He also chaired the joint oversight committees on local government, youth and sports development and rural development. At present, he is the Chairman of the Committee of Ethics and Privileges and the Committee on Rules. He has also been a member of the Commission on Appointments and is currently a member of the Senate Electoral Tribunal. He also assumed the roles of minority floor leader and majority floor leader. In the 2010, he sought and won a fresh term as senator and in recognition of his hard work and dedication; he was named Majority Floor Leader for the second time. Currently, he is still the Majority Floor Leader for the 17th Congress.

It is not only in his professional life that Sotto excels. His marital union and bliss to now part-time actress Helen Gamboa is a rarity in showbusiness — bonded by fear and love of God. He is also a doting father to Romina Frances, Diorella Maria, Gian Carlo and Ciara Anna. For him, his family is his best treasures, and an untarnished record as a public servant, his lasting legacy.