2. Rufus Rodriguez
• Rufus Bautista Rodriguez (born September 13, 1953) is
a Filipino lawyer and politician. He is the president of the Centrist
Democratic Party and has been a member of the House of
Representatives representing the Cagayan de Oro's 2nd district from
2007 to 2016 and from 2019 to today. He previously served as Vice
Governor of Misamis Oriental from 1984 to 1986 and Board Member from
1980 to 1984. Rodriguez also was appointed as the head of the Bureau
of Immigration by President Joseph Estrada in 1998 and served in that
capacity until 2001.
3. Education
• During his high school graduation, Rodriguez was the recipient of the Insular Life
Excellence Award.
• He graduated from De La Salle University in 1975 with an Bachelor of Arts degree.
He then earned his Bachelor of Laws degree in the University of the Philippines
Diliman. As a sophomore law student, he was elected the first and first-Filipino
president of the World Association of Law Students based in Washington, D.C. As
such he presided over the organization’s assemblies in Khartoum, Madrid, and São
Paulo. During his time as a law student at U.P., he became the youngest author of
law books in his junior year by writing the Law on Transportation published by Rex
Bookstore. He also became a member of the Order of the Purple Feather Honor
Society from 1st to 4th year. After graduation he then passed the 1981 bar
examinations with grades of 90% in three bar subjects, namely Commercial Law,
Criminal Law and Labor Law.
4. • He then studied in Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan and
earned a Master of Arts in Economics in 1984. He took up further
studies in law overseas and graduated with a Master of
Laws Magna Cum Laude and a Harlan Fiske Stone Award at
the Columbia School of Law in 1995.
5. Career
• In 1980, while on his senior year at law school, Rodriguez was
elected member of the Misamis Oriental Provincial Board. In 1984
he became Vice Governor of Misamis Oriental and served until
1986.
• In 1990, Rodriguez was appointed the law dean of the San
Sebastian College of Law, Manila.
• He ran for a Senate seat in the 1992 election under the Nationalist
People's Coalition but lost, finishing 75th.
6. • From 2007 to 2016, Rodriguez was elected as the
representative of the second district of Cagayan de Oro in
the 14th-16th Congress, ranking second among 268
congressmen on the most number of bills and resolutions
filed at 554, of which 53 became Republic Acts. He was
re-elected to the House in the 2010 and 2013 elections.
7. • In the 15th Congress, Rodriguez ranked first in the House of
Representatives in number of bills and resolutions filed, with 997, 9 of
which have become laws, making him the House member with the most
number of bills filed that became law.
• On June 19, 2009, Rodriguez received a Certificate, Leaders in
Development from the John F. Kennedy School of Government of
Harvard University.
• In 2011 he received a Certificate on Summer Courses on Public
International Law from The Hague Academy of International Law.
8. • In June 2012, Representative Rodriguez sponsored an amendment
to the Expanded Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2009. The
proposed amendment revises the provisions rendering a time for
breastfeeding babies during work hours. Breastfeeding mothers
would no longer be paid for time spent breastfeeding as they are
under the current Milk Code, provided the breaks do not exceed 40
minutes during an eight-hour work period.
9. • Rodriguez then attended the 17th Session of the Rhodes Academy
of Oceans Law and Policy in Rhodes, Greece in July of that same
year.
• In 2015 Justice Undersecretary Justiniano amended a complaint
against Representative Rodriguez for his part in the 2013 Pork
Barrel Scam. It was for cases for malversation of funds.
10. • During the May 9, 2016 presidential elections, Rodriguez first
showed his support to candidates Grace Poe and Mar Roxas, but
later in the campaign—when surveys changed in Rodrigo Duterte's
favor—his support veered towards the Davao City mayor, who
subsequently won.
• When the 70 congressmen denied ABS-CBN's hopes of renewing
its legislative broadcast franchise on July 10, 2020, he slammed
the vote because the solons defied the evidence that the network
has not committed numerous violations.[
11. Personal life
• Rodriguez is married to Fenina Tiukinhoy of Surigao City and has a
daughter, Atty. Regine Beatrice T. Rodriguez, who passed the 2021
Bar Examinations with Exemplary Performance.
12. Awards
• Rodriguez was awarded “Most Outstanding Alumnus” by De La Salle University in 1999 and
Xavier University in 2002.
• In December 2008 he was awarded the Xavier University 75th Anniversary's Most Outstanding
Alumnus Award for Public Service.
• On November 14, 2010, he received the Gold Vision Triangle Award, the highest award given
by the YMCA of the Philippines, for his exemplary and distinctive service to the Filipino youth.
• In 2011 he was conferred a degree of Doctorate of Humanities (Civil Law), Honoris Causa, by
the Central Mindanao University. That same year he was also awarded the YMCA Centennial
Leadership Award for Government Service.
• Rodriguez was also conferred a Doctor of Laws (Honoris Causa) degree by the University of
Negros Occidental - Recoletos (UNO-R) in 2012.
