Luis Raymund Villafuerte
Luis Raymund "LRay" Favis Villafuerte Jr. (born June 3, 1968) is a Filipino politician serving as the Representative of Camarines Sur's 2nd district since 2016. He was a House Deputy Speaker from 2019 until October 14, 2020. He previously served as the governor of Camarines Sur from 2004 to 2013.
Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr. | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the Philippine House of Representatives from Camarines Sur's 2nd district | |
| Assumed office June 30, 2016 | |
| Preceded by | Dato Arroyo |
| Deputy Speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives | |
| In office July 22, 2019 – October 14, 2020 | |
| House Speaker | Alan Peter Cayetano |
| Succeeded by | Mikee Romero |
| Governor of Camarines Sur | |
| In office June 30, 2004 – June 30, 2013 | |
| Vice Governor | Salvio Fortuno (2004–2010) Fortunato Peña (2010–2013) |
| Preceded by | Luis Villafuerte Sr. |
| Succeeded by | Miguel Luis Villafuerte |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 3, 1968[1] Manila, Philippines[1] |
| Nationality | Filipino |
| Political party | Nacionalista |
| Other political affiliations | Lakas-CMD (2004–2009) |
| Spouse(s) | Lara Reyes Villafuerte |
| Residence | Quezon City |
| Alma mater | De La Salle University Stanford University |
| Occupation | Public servant |
| Profession | Businessman |
| Website | lrayvillafuerte |
His father is politician Luis Villafuerte Sr., while his son is the incumbent governor of Camarines Sur, Miguel Luis Villafuerte.
Personal life
Luis Raymund "LRay" Villafuerte Jr. was born on June 3, 1968 in Manila to Luis Villafuerte Sr. and Nelly Favis. In elementary school, LRay was part of the De La Salle University's track team. He received his primary education from De La Salle University and his secondary education from La Salle Greenhills.
In 1990, Villafuerte held the highest grade-point average in the graduating Political Science class in De La Salle University. He also garnered the highest grade in the Political Science Comprehensive Examination, won the "Best Thesis" award for his work on "Local Autonomy", and was the Department Gold Medalist in the Political Science department. He also studied at Stanford Graduate School of Business (2003) and joined a leadership program in Institute of International Studies and Training in Japan (2006).
He has four children with his wife Lara: Miguel Luis (Migz), Julio, Luigi, and Gabriella.
Sports
He is into running, biking, swimming, and wakeboarding. He started running 10k distances in 2009. He also ran 21k in the 70.3 Ironman run in Phuket, Thailand.
He also learned wakeboarding from his son and current CamSur Governor Miguel Luis “Migz” Villafuerte.
Business career
LRay, along with his wife Lara, owns Lara's Gift and Décor, Inc., an export company serving clients in different countries. They were the only Philippine business directly selling to Target branches in the United States.
LRay was the President of Lara's Gift and Décor, Inc from 1990 to 2004, and President of Lara's Gift and Décor, Inc. U.S.A. from 2000 to 2004. He was also the President of Bicol Broadcasting Systems, Inc. (2001–2004), Global Merchandising Services Ltd. (2001–2004), Digitext Asia Corporation (2002–2004), and the Philippine Association of Medical Transcription, Inc. (2001–2004).
Currently, LRay is the chief executive officer of Republic Wakeparks Inc., President of Blank Boardsports Supply Company Inc., Vice-President of Breddas Inc., and a Trustee of the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship.
LRay is also President of Villafuerte Brotherhood Foundation, Inc, (2001–present) and of Philippine Water Ski and Wakeboard Federation, Inc. (2006-president). He is also Vice-President of Asian Wakeboarding Association (2001–present) and an Executive board member of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines Camarines Sur Council (2003–present).
He is also a Paul Harris Fellow at Rotary International and is associated with the following organizations:
- Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry
- United Association of Manufacturers’ Representative
- Manufacturer’s Agents National Association
- Federation of Manufacturers Association of Camarines Sur
- Federation of Handmade Paper Makers and Converters
- Philippine Chamber of Handicraft Industries
- European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines
- Philippine Exporters Confederation
- Young Entrepreneurs Organization
- Amazing
Political career
Governor of Camarines Sur
LRay became the Camarines Sur governor in 2004 and served until 2013, following the footsteps of his father, who was governor from 1986 to 1992 and 1995 to 2004. LRay's grandfather, Mariano Villafuerte Sr., was also governor of CamSur from 1942 to 1943 during the Japanese Occupation. LRay's best accomplishment as a Governor was making Camarines Sur a first-class province. In 2010, CamSur became the number one tourist destination in the country with more than 2 million tourist visits. He also turned CamSur from the 39th poorest province in the Philippines to the 10th richest in 2009.
LRay paved the way for the development of the Caramoan Peninsula, now widely known as Caramoan Islands, which has hosted numerous editions of the popular reality show Survivor.
LRay also led the establishment of the CamSur Watersports Complex.
LRay's programs for tourism has helped him provide free education, broader medical services, agriculture programs, and livelihood programs, among others, to the Camarinenses.
In 2011, LRay also pioneered the El Verde Movement, CamSur's program for making a greener environment. The program employed a partnership package with different stakeholders, allowing the people to make a living out of planting trees. The Food-for-Tree Package allowed families to plant, maintain, and take care of trees through a food-for-work scheme. The Building Communi-Trees project allows corporate sponsors to invest and pledge a donation that will correspond to the number of trees they wish to be planted. The Back Tree School program is a sponsorship program offered to organizations that can sponsor an out-of-school youth to go back to school by planting trees.
Through these schemes, the El Verde Movement managed to plant 12.7 million trees in 35 municipalities by the end of 2012. It also bagged two Guinness World Records; for planting 64,096 trees in 15 minutes in the municipality of Siruma, and for planting 1 million mangrove propagules in just one hour. When LRay passed the reign to his son Migz, the current CamSur governor continued the program, aiming to plant 40 million trees by the year 2020. Most recently, LRay led the establishment of the CamSur Information Technology Park, located in the heart of the Provincial Complex. LRay envisioned the CSITP to be the province's information technology, information, and economic capital.
Located within the park is the CamSur Animation Studio, the first LGU-run digital center in the Philippines. CamSur Animation Studio was established in 2006 by the Provincial Government of Camarines Sur headed by LRay.
One of the biggest issues LRay faced during his term as governor was the call of CamSur politicians, including his own father, to divide the province into two provinces to create Nueva Camarines. LRay sternly opposed the rally, saying that it would be better and more convenient to run CamSur as one province. LRay also noted that the creation of another province would cost too much money to the national government. Today, CamSur stands as a single, wealthy province.
House of Representatives
LRay is serving his first term as representative of the second district of Camarines Sur in Congress, beating Assuncion Arseño in the 2016 elections. Although considered a neophyte legislator, Congressman LRay has already filed close to a hundred bills as of writing – a strong display of commitment to his constituents and the public. Through legislation, he seeks to develop policies relating to the environment, education, information technology, and health, among others.
On his first day at work, he filed three revolutionary bills: (1) An act establishing e-government (House Bill No. 262), (2) An act integrating bicycle lanes in the Philippine transport system (House Bill No. 263), and (3) An act using digital technology in the public education system (House Bill No. 264).
He has also filed bills that aim to convert roads into national roads in the province of CamSur to accelerate the province’s development and increase economic activity within the province. He has also filed bills to convert several secondary schools in the province into national high schools to better provide for the needs of the students.
Congressman LRay spearheads the 17th Congress Neophytes Fellowship, a first-of-its-kind, non-partisan monthly gathering of first-term representatives designed to strengthen the camaraderie among the 104 neophytes in the 298-member chamber.
LRay is also the Vice-President of the Committee on Appropriations, the Committee on Local Government, and the Committee on National Defense and Security, and a Member of the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Tourism. He is also a Member for the Majority on the Committee on Agriculture and Food, the Committee on Aquaculture and Fisheries Resources, the Committee on Banks and Financial Intermediaries, the Committee of Economic Affairs, the Committee on Information and Communications Technology, the Committee on Legislative Franchises, and the Committee on Ways and Means.. He is one of the famous 70 congressman who voted against the renewal of the ABS-CBN Franchise.
During the 2020 House leadership crisis, Villafuerte supported House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano's refusal to step down. After Lord Allan Velasco was elected as the new speaker, Villafuerte was ousted from being a deputy speaker on October 14 and was replaced by Mikee Romero, a Velasco ally who was removed as a deputy speaker two weeks prior by Cayetano's side. In a statement, Villafuerte announced that he will continue to support President Rodrigo Duterte's legislative agenda, and added "if the intention of removing me was to intimidate all those who remain loyal to former Speaker Cayetano, then they have miscalculated badly." He also accused the new leadership of "rejecting" the Cayetano faction's "offers of cooperation."[2][3]
References
- Hon. Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr. camarinessur.gov.ph
- Ferreras, Vince (October 14, 2020). "Romero back as deputy speaker, replaces Cayetano ally Villafuerte". CNN Philippines. Archived from the original on October 14, 2020. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
- Villaruel, Jauhn Etienne (October 14, 2020). "House revamp: Cayetano ally ousted, Romero back as Deputy Speaker". ABS-CBN News. Archived from the original on October 14, 2020. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
Metro Society (December 2010 Issue) The Bull Runner (July–August 2011 Issue) http://www.philstar.com/feature/347159/gov-l-ray-villafuerte-cam-sur-ceo Luis Raymund Villafuerte Jr. Curriculum Vitae