Gerry Roxas

Gerardo Manuel "Gerry" de Leon Roxas was a Filipino legislator from Capiz. More here: http://bit.ly/9J6Jog

In 1957, he was elected Congressman of the First District of Capiz and won with an overwhelming majority. He was re-elected in 1961. Gerry Roxas led the Liberal Party senatorial slate in 1963 and, after an exciting contest, emerged the top-notcher, obtaining the highest number of votes cast for a national candidate. In 1965, he ran for Vice-President as the running mate of then President Diosdado Macapagal. In the unfinished counting of the abruptly stopped Comelec tabulation, he lost by merely 26,724 votes, the narrowest margin ever recorded in our country's Vice-Presidential elections. He ran for re-election in the 1969 senatorial elections and emerged as the sole survivor of the entire Liberal Party senatorial slate.

As a young congressman, Gerry Roxas established the Roxas Educational Advancement Committee in 1958. The organization provided scholarship grants to youths in Capiz province. The program later expanded to the nationwide Gerry Roxas Leadership Awards (1967) to motivate and develop the youth's potentials in leadership and service to country. This nationwide program continues to this day.