Teofisto Guingona III, Filipino lawyer and politician
Teofisto "TG" de Lara Guingona III (Tagalog pronunciation: [giŋˈgɔna]), or more commonly known as "TG" is a distinguished lawyer and the son of former Vice President Teofisto "Tito" Guingona, Jr. He was a Congressman of the 2nd District of Bukidnon during the 13th and 14th Congress from 2004 to 2010 and a Senator of the Philippines during the 15th and 16th Congress from 2010 to 2016.TG Guingona passed a total of twenty-three (23) laws as a legislator. Among these are measures designed to improve the health system of the Philippines such as The Expanded Senior Citizens Act which prescribes that all Filipino senior citizens be automatically covered by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), The Rare Diseases Act which improves the access of patients who are diagnosed to have a rare disease or are suspected of having a rare disease to comprehensive medical care, and The Comprehensive Tuberculosis Elimination Plan Act which expands PhilHealth's tuberculosis packages and provides free tuberculosis medicine and laboratory services nationwide. The law also expands PhilHealth's tuberculosis package to include new patients, relapse patients, return-after-default cases, and cases requiring extended treatment.As Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, TG Guingona also fought against the eviction of the Philippine Children's Medical Center (PCMC) by facilitating the land transfer between the Department of Health (DOH) and the National Housing Authority (Philippines) (NHA). The land transfer allowed the DOH to finally own the lot where PCMC stands, thus providing PCMC, the Philippines' largest public hospital for children, the security to continuously operate and provide subsidized medical treatment to more than 70,000 Filipino children, most of which belong to the marginalized sector.Other major legislations authored and co-authored by TG Guingona are The Philippine Competition Act, The Anti-Money Laundering Act, and The Sandiganbayan Act.The Philippine Competition Act is the first competition law in the Philippines. Through this, the Philippine Competition Commission was created to protect consumers from product price spikes, allow consumers to have more options and better products to choose from, and ultimately empower small businesses.The Anti-Money Laundering Act which gives the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) the power to conduct ex parte (without notice) inquiries into the bank accounts of persons who may be committing unlawful activities and/or money laundering upon the order of any competent court while emphasizing constitutional provisions to ensure that indiscriminate and illegal inquiries are not made.The Sandiganbayan Act aims to address the resolution of graft and corruption cases in the Philippines by increasing the number of divisions in the Sandiganbayan, rationalizing its procedures, and expanding its capacity to eliminate graft and corruption in the government in a timely and efficient manner to ensure that justice will be implemented with the highest level of integrity.In 2012, TG Guingona was the only senator who voted against The Cybercrime Prevention Act or The Cybercrime Law. This law was coined "Cyber Martial Law" by the public for its vague online libel clauses which was deemed repressive of the Filipino people's constitutional right to freedom of speech. Upon its passage into law, TG Guingona filed a petition before the Supreme Court to repeal these clauses. The Supreme Court heeded this call and ordered a temporary restraining order on its implementation the following month before finally ruling some provisions of the Cybercrime Prevention Act as unconstitutional in 2014.TG Guingona has also been selected as a Champion of Good Governance by the Kaya Natin! Movement, a non-profit and non-government organization in the Philippines. TG Guingona was recognized for his efforts to promote good governance and ethical leadership in government as exemplified in his accomplishments as the Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Accountability of Public Officers and Investigations (Blue Ribbon). As Chairperson, TG Guingona led the investigations on various graft and corruption activities in government in aid of legislation such as the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) Fund Scam, The Philippine National Police (PNP) Helicopter Scam, and one of the biggest corruption scandals in recent history, the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) Scam or Pork Barrel Scam.TG Guingona also authored The Freedom of Information Bill and persistently called for its passage into law. The Freedom of Information Bill mandates the disclosure of information from all government agencies in relation to their budget, procurement, transactions, and other pertinent information regarding government agencies to any member of the public. This bill does not only pursue greater transparency and accountability in governance, but it also promotes citizen participation and nation-building because when armed with relevant information, people can more efficiently work with government and introduce reforms.