RIP, Manny Valdehuesa Jr.

Albert Einstein said, “The value of a man should be seen in what he gives and not
in what he is able to receive.” We’ll remember you with all your special nuances
and our memories from all the days gone before that we were privileged to
share with you, most especially our common struggles …Rest in Peace.

Manny Valdehuesa, Jr. was born in Cagayan de Oro, Northern Mindanao, 17 June 1939 and is married to Marita F. Mier of Zambales and Baler. The couple have 2 sons, Ariston and Basilio.

A graduate of Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan in Political Science and of the MBA program at Ateneo de Manila, he was a scholar at New York’s Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs and studied economics at the Henry George School of Social Science.

Manny was active in the reform movement since the 1960s and was secretary-general of the Christian Social Movement until the martial law period.

Under then-Vice President Pelaez and Senators Manglapus and Manahan, Manny was active in political organizations and campaign operations, and later took part in NAMFREL and the Bishops Businessmen’s Conference.

While traveling widely as part of his work as a UNESCO/United Nations director, Manny’s interest in politics led him to observe the American presidential system as well as the European and Israeli parliamentary models. He returned in 1998 to revive his childhood interest in ranching (at a farm in Bukidnon) while writing for newspapers.

In 2004 he received the UNICEF-PPI Award for Most Outstanding Column on Children (community category) and went on to write a book on the factors that shape our politics: Trapo Governance and the Cha Cha Conspiracy: More Power to Those in Power, None for the People, published by Cacho Publishing House (National Book Store) in 2005.

Prior to his passing on to the next life on 8 August 2021, Manny is a member of the National Council of Kapatiran Party, a national political party for the Common good, and president and national convenor of Gising Barangay Movement, Inc. (formerly Task Force Good Governance), an advocacy for empowering the grassroots. His newest book, A Nation of Zombies: Powerless Grassroots, Clueless Elites and the Cycle of Corruption in the Philippines, was recently launched by the Capitol University Press.

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