Hon. Jose de VENECIA, Jr. Jose de Venecia Jr., who was elected five times as Speaker of the House of Representatives, unprecedented in the postwar Philippine Congress, has been a journalist, economic counselor, diplomat, peace-maker, political leader, lawmaker and business pioneer in oil exploration, who with others struck the first offshore Philippine oil discoveries, healthcare, agriculture, port operations and construction in the Philippines, the Middle East and North Africa in the 1970s. He was called the "Centennial Speaker" in 2007, which marked the 100 years anniversary of the Philippine House of Representatives after its founding in 1907. Former U.S. Wall Street Journal Editor Brett Decker, who wrote de Venecia?占퐏 biography ?占폞lobal Filipino,??published in Washington, D.C. by Regnery Publishing, Inc., called him a "trail-blazer for the Philippines, Asia and the world." A visionary, peace maker, coalition builder, and achiever, de Venecia: - Conceived and implemented the historic Dollar-Remittance Program that keeps the Philippine economy afloat and which has become a model for the Third World countries with large numbers of overseas workers. It yields the Philippines some US $18-billion a year - Authored the landmark B-O-T (Build-Operate-Transfer) Law, which raised US $30-billion in projects for the Philippines, at no cost to the government, which has become a model for other developing countries and the formula for "Private-Public Partnerships" - Authored the Military Bases Conversion Law, which has turned the former American military bases on Luzon Island, the biggest of them being Clark Airfield and Subic Naval Base, into thriving export zones and free ports - Initiated breakthroughs in the peace accords in the mid-1990s between Muslim (MNLF) Filipino separatist insurgents and between government and military rebels (RAM-YOU) - Pioneered Filipino projects - oil exploration, port operations, mass housing, agriculture - in the Arab world that led to the employment of millions of Filipinos worldwide - Founded in Manila in 2000 the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP), now composed of more than 300 ruling and opposition parties from 52 countries, and the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA), composed of more than 40 parliaments in Asia, to create the beginnings of an Asian Parliament and help achieve political and economic integration in Asia - Pushed the Christian-Muslim and Interfaith Dialogues approved by the United Nations to reduce politico-religious tensions and conflicts in various parts of the world and to help prevent the clash of civilizations and religions - Presented his debt for UN MDGs plan, endorsed by G-77 countries but long pending at the Paris Club, to finance the battle against poverty and climate change amidst the global financial crisis - Founded the Centrist Asia Pacific Democrats International (CAPDI), the first organization in the Asia Pacific, perhaps in the world, bringing together political parties and key institutions of democratic civil society, people's organizations, think tanks, academe, eminent persons, business leaders, media, women and youth groups - Founded in 2011 the Asian Peace and Reconciliation Council designed and to assist and advise Asian governments ruling in the aftermath of internal conflicts set off by citizens asserting their political and human rights and to help solve the difficult problem of transition to democracy and the return to popular governance in the wake of the Arab Spring He is also Co-Chairman of the Beijing-based International Eco-Safety Cooperative Organization (IESCO), focused on the problems of climate change; Co-President, with the French Ambassador to the Philippines, of the French Legion of Honor and National Order of Merit in the Philippines; Chairman-Emeritus of the New York-based Universal Peace Federation; and Member of the Board of the U.S.-based Global Peace Festival Council. Born in Dagupan City, Philippines on December 26, 1936, he finished high school at De La Salle College, and B.S. Major in Journalism at the Ateneo de Manila. In 1966, at 29, he was appointed Minister and Economic Counselor at the Philippine Embassy in Saigon during the Vietnam War. He is married to incumbent Congresswoman Georgina P. de Venecia, newly-elected President of the Women Legislators of the House of Representatives, social worker, who founded the Haven for Women, which has treated more than 20,000 abused women, Haven for Street Children, Haven for Senior Citizens abandoned by their families, and the Haven for Mothers who have lost their children. They have six children. Apart from his continuing Co-Chairmanship of ICAPP and Presidency of CAPDI, he also served as President of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF), President of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Union (APPU), twice President of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA), President of the Association of Asian Parliaments for Peace (AAPP), now the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA), and First President of CDI Asia Pacific, now CAPDI. He is a Reserve Colonel in the Philippine Army. He has addressed the U.N. General Assembly, Security Council, IMF, World Bank, conferences at the British Parliament, Council of Europe, European Parliament, Italian Parliament, and Japanese Diet. He has written a book and many pamphlets and articles. He has received foreign decorations - from President Jacques Chirac of France, with the French Legion of Honor, King Juan Carlos of Spain, the California Legislature, the Knights of Rizal, Government of Equatorial Guinea, the Royal Academy of Cambodia and the Royal Order of the Cambodian Sahametrei Grand Cross, and honorary doctorates from universities at home and abroad.