Sonia Roco

Sonia Roco
Sonia Roco
Born	Sonia Cubillo Malasarte; 20 July 1944 (age 79); Tondo, Manila, Commonwealth of the Philippines
Alma mater	Saint Joseph's College of Quezon City (BS); Ateneo de Manila University (MA, MA)
Occupation	Educator
Political party	Liberal (2009-present)
Other political; affiliations	Aksyon (2007-2009)
Spouse	Raul Roco

Sonia Malasarte Roco (born 20 July 1944) is the widow of Filipino senator and presidential candidate Raul Roco. She ran for the Senate in the 2007 Philippine Midterm Elections under her late husband's party, Aksyon Demokratiko, which is allied with the broad opposition coalition called Genuine Opposition. She joined the coalition after JV Ejercito, son of deposed President Joseph Estrada, pulled out as an opposition candidate at his father's behest.^[1]

Early life

Sonia Roco was born to then-

Calape, Bohol. A consistent honor student from elementary to college, she was awarded the "Most Outstanding Student of the Philippines" in 1964, placing first (future husband Raul placed second) among all college students ranked on the basis of academic excellence, leadership ability, and special achievement. Sonia was also a recipient of the Cardinal Santos Leadership Award, having served as president of the Student Catholic Action (SCA) and the National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP), a national student organization founded by future Philippine Chief Justice Artemio Panganiban

.

Roco holds a

Child Development Center of the University of the Philippines Diliman

.

Career

As an educator, Sonia co-founded "Our School," a center for early childhood education at the Ateneo Psychology Department. She also established "Live and Learn Pre-school," a kindergarten school in Katipunan, Quezon City.

As a theater artist, Sonia trained in Speech and Drama in London, England. Upon returning to the Philippines, she taught, acted in, directed, and produced musicals and stage plays.

Sonia ran in the 2007 Philippine general election, coming in 17th place (Genuine Opposition), with 8,457,710 votes. She ran again in the senatorial lineup of the Liberal Party in the 2010 elections. She took 18th place on the electoral result with 6,290,925 votes.

Personal life

As a devoted wife to

international parliamentarian

. The couple has six children and nine grandchildren. They were bestowed the Golden Parents Award for 1995.

In both 1998 and 2004

First Lady of the Philippines. On August 5, 2005, Raul Roco died of prostate cancer

.

Community involvement

Sonia is active in educational, social, cultural, and environmental causes. As past president and founding member of the 20-year-old Women in Nation Building (WIN), she is a sought-after resource person on

healthcare, she is a frequent guest speaker owing to her first-hand experience as primary caregiver to then ailing husband Raul

. Sonia co-founded Saint Michael's Hospice in 1996 to help the poor and terminally ill. She maintains active relations with the Student Catholic Action Leadership Foundation, an organization which strives to revive the SCA among the contemporary Filipino youth. She is the executive director of Student Catholic Action of the Philippines.

Dr. Patricia Licuanan and Sonia set up the Metro Manila Community Orchestra. With Corazon Alma de Leon and Tony Arevalo, her radio program, “Kapitan del Baryo,” aimed to strengthen

poems.^[3]

References

^ Estrada son out of UNO; Roco in - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos Archived 2007-02-11 at the Wayback Machine
^ 2 Boholanos bid for Senate-The Bohol Chronicle^{[permanent dead link]}
^ showbizandstyle.inquirer.net, What’s Sonia Roco up to? Archived 2008-07-14 at the Wayback Machine

External links

[1] Estrada son out of UNO; Roco in - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos Archived 2007-02-11 at the Wayback Machine

[2] 2 Boholanos bid for Senate-The Bohol Chronicle^{[permanent dead link]}

[3] showbizandstyle.inquirer.net, What’s Sonia Roco up to? Archived 2008-07-14 at the Wayback Machine

[1]

[3]