The first summa cum laude of the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV) is among the incoming lawmakers in the 19th Congress.
Raoul Danniel Abellar Manuel, a native of Barangay Santo Niño Sur in Arevalo district, Iloilo City, will sit in the House of Representatives as Kabataan Party-list representative.
Kabataan, one of the 55 winning party-list groups in the May 9 elections, received its certificate of proclamation in a ceremony in Pasay City on Thursday, May 26.
“Ang pagkapanalo natin ngayon is significant in the sense that young people right now are living in times or when we are being silenced,” Manuel said in an interview on ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC).
He cited the passage of the Universal Access for Tertiary Education Act into law as one of Kabataan’s significant contributions to nation-building.
The law made college education free for underprivileged students studying in state universities and colleges (SUCs).
“This proves na necessary pa rin na merong boses ‘yung young people natin inside Congress,” Manuel said.
In 2015, Manuel made history as the first summa cum laude graduate of the University of the Philippines Visayas (UPV). The BS Applied Mathematics major scored a general weighted average of 1.099.
He served as student regent of the UP Board of Regents, the highest policy-making body in the UP System, for the academic year 2016-2017.IMT
