Jamby Madrigal

Maria Ana Consuelo "Jamby" Madrigal-Valade (born Maria Ana Consuelo Abad Santos Madrigal April 26, 1958), better known as Jamby Madrigal, is a Filipino politician and businesswoman. She was elected as a Senator in the aftermath of the 2004 elections. After only one term in the upper house, she made a quick run for the presidency in the 2010 elections but lost.

Early life and career

Jamby Madrigal was born in Manila, Philippines on April 26, 1958 to Antonio Madrigal (1921–2007) and Amanda Teopaco Abad Santos. She is the granddaughter of the former Supreme Court Chief Justice José Abad Santos of San Fernando, Pampanga. Her granduncle – pre-Commonwealth Assemblyman Pedro Abad Santos – founded the Socialist Party of the Philippines. The Abad Santos brothers were from a modest family.

Her paternal grandfather was Senator Vicente Lopez Madrigal of Ligao, Albay, one of the Philippine Republic's elected senators in 1949.She, her father, and grandfather are members of the rich Spanish–Visayan Madrigal family. Her aunt, Senator Pacita Madrigal-Gonzalez was a senator during the Quezon and Magsaysay administrations and was the first administrator of the Social Welfare Administration, the predecessor of today's Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). Her late married uncle and aunt were former Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Manuel Collantes and heiress Consuelo "Chito" Madrigal.

Personal life

She married Frenchman Eric Jean Claude Dudoignon Valade on December 7, 2002 at the Calatagan, Batangas farm estate of her aunt, the late Doña Consuelo "Chito miranda" Madrigal-Collantes (1921–2008).

In May 2008 Jamby Madrigal formally filed court pleadings to contest the validity of the last will and testament of her late aunt Chito Madrigal-Collantes.

Government service

In October 1999, President Joseph Ejercito Estrada created the Office of the Presidential Adviser for Children's Affairs. He appointed her to head this office, which gives the children of the poor access to the President's highest councils.

She organized the First National Summit for Children in Malacañan Place on October 26, 2001 where government agencies, local government units, industry leaders and non-government organizations signed a declaration of commitment upholding Child 21 – a framework on which to anchor all action plans and strategies relating to children. This declaration was a first in Southeast Asia – a fitting prelude to the United Nations’ World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children, which was adopted during the World Summit for Children on September 30, 1990.

She travels nationwide while coordinating the agency's feeding and educational programs, confirming her commitment to the cause of poor Filipino children. She became especially concerned over the fate of teachers and school children who were taken hostage by the Abu Sayyaf terrorists in 2001. After consultation with the victims themselves, she sought the help of clinical psychologists from Ateneo de Manila and Ateneo de Zamboanga, who soothed the trauma victims and trained their parents in stress management.

In addition to her work for her numerous foundations, in later 2003 she has become spokesperson for the youth-based Kontra Pulitika Movement (KPM) – which champions education, protection of the environment and economic empowerment through livelihood programs.

She has acted in a movie on the life of Luis Taruc, the Kapampangan founder of the Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa mga Hapon (Hukbalahap). Ka Luis was the protégé of her grandfathers, the Abad Santos brothers. In the film, ‘Anak Pawis’, she portrays her grandmother, Amanda Teopaco.

Political career

Madrigal is the former Chair of four Senate Committees: Committee on Environment, Committee on Youth, Women and Family Relations, Committee on Peace, Unification and Reconciliation, and the Committee on Cultural Communities. She has filed bills in the areas of education, juvenile justice, gender equality, empowerment, anti-trafficking and anti-pornography and has also authored bills on the protection of the indigenous peoples and their ancestral domain as well as the protection and conservation of the environment. She likewise sponsored bills advancing national economic interests, such as the repeal of the Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act of 1998, as well as measures seeking to place LPG under price control and for the recovery of PETRON and Malampaya. She also filed a bill repealing RA 7942, the "Mining Act of 1995" and a bill for the imposition of a total log ban. Both bills aim to protect the last remaining natural resources from wholesale plunder.

In an opposition protest, Madrigal was one of the political leaders who were subjected to the Manila Police water cannons while attending a religious procession on October 14, 2005.

Madrigal has declared her candidacy for President in the 2010 presidential elections. During the race, Madrigal launched many allegations of corruption against fellow Senator Manny Villar (who was also in the running). Over the course of the campaign, Madrigal brought out "700 pages of evidence" to prove that Villar had "realigned C-5 (a main Metro Manila thoroughfare) to pass by [Villar's] real estate developments so that [Villar] would be paid for right of way." These accusations, coupled with the legislative backing of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile (PMP), are said to have dealt the deathblow to Villar's presidential aspirations in 2010, supposedly resulting in the latter's eventual loss to Senator Benigno Aquino III.

External links

• Jamby's Official Website
• Jamby's Senate Bio
• Jamby's I-Site Profile
• Will you vote for Jamby Madrigal for President? - 2010 Philippines Election Poll
• Presidential candidate runs amok in Tanay