Linabelle Ruth Villarica

DEPUTY SPEAKER Linabelle Ruth R. Villarica, represents the 4th District of Bulacan in the 17th Congress of the Republic of the Philippines for nine years now. Currently ex-oficio member of all the House Committees, prior to her deputization, she was Chairperson of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, became President of the Central Luzon Bloc for six years, and is the current President of the Association of Women Legislators Foundation, Inc. In the 16th Congress, she was Chairperson of the Committee on Women and Gender Equality.

Among the national laws she has authored are: An Act Extending the Validity of the Philippine Passport to 10 years; Anti-Mail Order Spouse Act; Rare Diseases Act of the Philippines; Microfinance Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) Act; Amendment of the Public Employment Service Office (PESO) Law; An Act Decriminalizing Vagrancy; and the Expanded Maternity Leave Act of 2019.

She was Chairperson of the Women Parliamentarians of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (WAIPA), 38th General Assembly of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, September 14 – 20, 2017.

Her 30-year advocacy for women led to citations from her home city of Meycauayan such as Outstanding Businesswoman and Outstanding Woman in 2000, the province of Bulacan’s Pride of Heritage Award for Public Service and Outstanding Woman in 2004, and election as Governor of Soroptimist International of the Philippines Region from 2006 to 2008 as well as Federation Director of Soroptimist International of America from 2008 to 2010.