2. • Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Manalang Angara is a Filipino
politician and lawyer serving as a Senator since 2013. He is
also the chairman of Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, the
governing body of basketball in the Philippines. He had
previously served as the Representative of Aurora’s lone
district from 2004 to 2013. His father, Edgardo Angara, was
the Senate President from 1993 to 1995.
3. EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION
• Angara was born on July 15, 1972, in Manila to lawyer and future senator Edgardo Angara
and Gloria Manalang-Angara, a teacher who would become chairperson of the Cultural
Center of the Philippines. He took up his basic education at Xavier School in San Juan,
Metro Manila, then attended Douai School in the UK, and finished his Bachelor of Science
degree in International Relations with honors from the London School of Economics. He
finished his law degree at the University of the Philippines College of Law, and earned his
Master of Laws degree from Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
4. PERSONAL LIFE
• He married ABS-CBN executive Tootsy Echauz in 2003; they have
three children.
• On March 26, 2020, he tested positive for COVID-19. He was one of
the four highest ranking Philippine Government official to have
been infected with the SARS-CoV2 including Senator Zubiri, Senator
Pimentel and AFP Chief of Staff General Santos. He then recovered
from the disease.
5. • Senator Sonny Angara was elected senator in 2013, placing sixth
with 16 million votes. A lawmaker for more than 12 years, he is one
of the most hardworking and productive member of Congress
having already more than 60 laws under his belt. He is the Senate’s
leading voice in advocating for income tax reform to raise the take-
home pay of workers, and to make the tax system a tool for
economic progress, social justice and happier families.
