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His official website www.raulroco.com contains the following 'official biography.'
He was formerly a senator and education secretary and was born on October 26, 1941 in Naga City in the province of Camarines Sur, the son of farmer Sulpicio Azuela Roco and public school teacher Rosario Orlanda Sagarbarria.
A precocious learner, he finished elementary school at age 10 and completed high school at age 14 at the Ateneo de Naga . At age 18 he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, magna cum laude, at San Beda College in Manila. Roco received his Bachelor of Laws as Abbott Awardee for Over-All Excellence at San Beda College.
As a young Bedan, he wrote the lyrics of the San Beda College Alma Mater Song and was editor-in-chief of The Bedan, the college newspaper. He took his Master of Comparative Law as a University Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, U.S.A., where he was cross-enrolled at the Wharton School for Multinational Studies. Roco has been conferred seven honorary doctoral degrees by various universities.
Roco was the youngest ever president of the National Union of Students of the Philippines in 1961 and was one of the Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines in 1964. He was the youngest Bicolano delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1971 and was also the youngest president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, serving from 1983 to 1985. As a member of the legal staff of the late Senator Benigno “ Ninoy” Aquino, he drafted the Study Now, Pay Later Law.
Taking time off from his legal work, he was executive producer of the late great film director Lino Brocka’s movie Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang which won six FAMAS Awards including best film in 1974.
Representing the second district of Camarines Sur, he was adjudged by the Ford Foundation and the University of the Philippines Institute of Strategic and Development Studies as first in over-all performance among legislators of the Eighth Congress from 1987 to 1992.
As senator from 1992 to 2000, Roco was the author of the law that reformed the central banking system, a feat that earned him the title “Father of the Bangko Sentral.” Other laws passed under his stewardship resulted in the liberalization of the banking industry and the strengthening of the thrift banks. He authored the Intellectual Property Code and the Securities Regulation Code.
Having always the public teachers in mind, Roco helped fund the teachers’ cooperatives as well as the increment mandated by the Magna Carta for Public School Teachers for retiring public school teachers.
On the students’ side, he pioneered in the Senate the computerization program for state universities and colleges and public schools. He also devised meal scholarships for poor students at the Philippine Normal University.
As senator, Roco authored the Women in Nation Building Law, the Nursing Act, the Anti-Sexual Harassment Law, the Anti Rape Law and the Child and Family Courts Act. He prioritized women in the Department of Education’s literacy program.
For all this pioneering work that empowered women, he was named “Honorary Woman” by many womens’ groups.
As senator, he worked hard to protect the welfare of Filipino workers abroad. One of his most notable efforts led to the abolishing of double taxation on overseas workers.
He was consistently cited outstanding senator during his term. For his exemplary performance in the senate impeachment trial of then president Joseph Estrada, he was given the Bantay Katarungan award by Kilosbayan.