Senator Francis "Tol" Tolentino is a Filipino politician and lawyer currently serving as a Senator since 2019. He previously served as Chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority from 2010 to 2015 and was the Mayor of Tagaytay from 1995 to 2004. As a Senator, he currently chairs important committees and advocates for priorities like education, justice reform, and national security. He has an extensive legal background and education from universities in the Philippines and abroad.

1. Senator of the Philippines
Senator Francis “tol” Tolentino

2. Francis Tolentino
Francis N Tolentino (Tagalog pronunciation: [nɐŋ tolɛnˈtino]; is a
Filipino politician and lawyer serving as a Senator since 2019.
He served as Chairman of the Metropolitan Manila
Development Authority (MMDA) from 2010 to 2015 and was the
Mayor of Tagaytay from 1995 to 2004.
For the 19th Congress of the Republic of the Philippines, he is
currently the Chairman of the prestigious Senate Blue Ribbon
Committee and the Senate Committee on Justice and Human
Rights. He is currently the Senate Representative in
the Judicial and Bar Council and is also one of the Senate
Representatives in the Commission on Appointments

3.  During the 18th Congress, Tolentino chaired the Senate Committee
on Local Government and the Senate Committee on Urban
Planning, Housing, and Resettlement.
 As a lawyer with multiple degrees, he is a staunch advocate
of prioritizing education for all and making justice accessible through
the Philippine Legal Justice Center, which he founded. As a
Brigadier General of the Philippine Army (Res), he pushes for
making the armed forces of the Philippines stronger and
formidable.[2][3] As a lawyer with a masters in international law, he
pushes for equal standing for the Philippines in the international
community.[4][5][6] He is also an advocate of protecting and
maintaining the Philippine's territorial integrity through legislation
passed in the 18th and 19th Congress.[7] Tolentino established
the Philippine Legal Justice Center (PLJC) in Manila, providing free
legal services to indigent litigants especially OFWs, and tribal
communities.

4. Early 2022, Tolentino was one of the
legislators who pushed for the stoppage of the
unregulated online sabong or e-sabong, which
caused the destruction of families, loss of
lives, and disappearances of sabungeros in
the Philippines in 2021 and 2022.

5. Personal life
Tolentino was born in Albay, and grew up
in Tagaytay, where he lives.[11] He is the first
son of Atty. Isaac O. Tolentino, who was the
longest-serving mayor of Tagaytay City.
Tolentino is known to be a vintage
car aficionado and a sports fan, both
international and local. He is currently the
President of the Samahan ng Kickboxing ng
Pilipinas, the national governing body for the
sport of kickboxing in the Philippines.

6. Education
 Tolentino had his primary education in Lourdes School of
Mandaluyong. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy
and Bachelor of Laws degree from the Ateneo de Manila
University and his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from Ateneo de Manila
University Law School.
 Tolentino obtained three (3) Master of Laws degrees, one from
the University of Michigan Law School in Ann Arbor (USA) where he
concentrated on constitutional law, and another from the University of
London in England specializing in public international law where he
graduated Second Honors (with merit) with Her Royal Highness
Princess Anne giving him the award. He obtained his third (3rd) Master
of Laws degree (LLM) from the Ivy League Columbia Law
School (New York City), where he displayed "superior academic
achievement".

7. He passed the New York State Bar Exams as well as
the Philippine Bar Exams in 1984 where he obtained
a general average of 86.25%.
He graduated Master on National Security
Administration at the National Defense College of the
Philippines where he ranked 6th out of 55 graduates.

8. Political career
 Mayor of Tagaytay City[edit]
 Tolentino was first appointed to the post of OIC Mayor
of Tagaytay from 1986 to 1987. He ran unopposed in the 1995
general election for Mayor of Tagaytay and was re-elected by his
constituents for 3 consecutive terms as Mayor from 1995 to
2004.[13] As Mayor, he advocated a City Character Program,
espousing values formation among his constituents.
 Under his administration, he created the Tagaytay Office of Public
Safety, which later became the basis of policies he put into force as
chair of the MMDA. He also initialized the Character First programs
which encourages governments, government leaders, civic
organizations and religious organizations to band together to
establish a "city" or "community" of character with character traits of
a Filipino every month.

9. Chairman of the Metro Manila Development
Authority
On July 27, 2010, Tolentino was appointed as the
ninth chairman of the Metropolitan Manila
Development Authority (MMDA). He is the first and
only non-resident of Metro Manila to be appointed to
the post.
In August 2013, Tolentino, as MMDA chairman,
launched the first Metro Manila Integrated Bus
Terminal known as the Southwest Integrated
Provincial Transport Terminal (SWIPTT)

10.  On September 19, 2013, Tolentino signed the Metro Manila Outdoor
Media Magna Carta along with various advertising groups, setting the
terms for regulating outdoor advertisements in Metro Manila. Among
the terms in the 15-page agreement were a 216-square meter
limitation on all outdoor signs and structures, with 30 percent of the
space of ground level ads allotted "for landscape works or vertical
gardens". Prior to the signing of the document, no limit had been
placed on the size of advertisements, such that a number of billboards
as big as 1,000 square meters had been allowed. The document
provided a nine-month grace period for advertisers to be able to
comply.