The House of Representatives paid tribute on Monday night, Aug. 1 to the late former Camarines Sur 1st District Rep. Rolando “Nonoy” Andaya Jr., and highlighted just how special of a legislator and public servant he was.
Adopted by the House plenary was House Resolution (HR) No.129, which described Andaya--a former Department of Budget and Management (DBM) secretary--as an "outstanding, dedicated, and well-respected public servant".
The House members also expressed their profound condolences to Andaya’s children, Rolando IV and Katrina Isabella.
House Speaker Martin Romualdez, House Majority Leader and Zamboanga City Rep. Manuel Jose "Mannix" Dalipe and House Minority Leader and 4Ps Party-list Rep. Marcelino Libanan authored and filed HR No.129.
Andaya died on June 30, 2022. He was 53.
“The demise of Honorable Rolando G. Andaya, Jr. is a great loss to his family, friends, and peers who remember him as a kind, down-to-earth, and a very good and faithful friend,” the resolution reads.
Andaya’s wife was the late Camarines Sur 1st district Rep. Marissa Lourdes Mercado Andaya. He was the son of the late Rolando Andaya Sr., who also represented the same district in the House during the 8th, 9th, and 10th Congresses.
As DBM secretary from 2006 to 2010, Andaya rationalized government expenditures, and pushed for the upgrading of the compensation of civil servants.
“A hard-working and dedicated member of the House of Representatives, Honorable Andaya served as deputy speaker from September 13, 2016 to July 30, 2018; majority leader from July 30, 2018 to January 2019; vice chairperson of the Committees on Games and Amusements, Energy, Economic Affairs, and Special Committee on Bicol Growth Area; and as chairperson of the Committee on Appropriations, the position he held until the end of his third term on June 30, 2019,” the resolution read.
“Honorable Andaya authored several laws of national importance including Republic Act (RA) No. 9166, entitled “An Act Promoting the Welfare of the Armed Forces of the Philippines by Increasing the Rate of Base Pay and Other Benefits of its Officers and Enlisted Personneland for Other Purposes”; RA 9227, entitled “An Act Granting Additional Compensation in the Form of Special Allowances for Justices, Judges and All Other Positions in the Judiciary with the Equivalent Rank of Justices of the Court of Appeals and Judges of the Regional Trial Court and For Other Purposes”; RA 9279, entitled “An Act Granting Additional Compensation in the Form of SpecialAllowances for the Members of the National Prosecution Service and the State Counsels in the Department of Justice, and for Other Purposes”; RA 11223, otherwise known as the “Universal Health Care Act”; RA 11210, otherwise known as the “105-Day Expanded Maternity Leave Law”; and RA 10928, entitled “An Act Extending the Validity of Philippine Passports, Amending for the Purpose the ‘Philippine Passport Act of 1996,” it said.
“As the youngest legislator to become the chairperson of the Committee on Appropriations, Honorable Andaya was acknowledged as the House’s expert in appropriations and budget process for his meticulous scrutiny of the national budget, and was instrumental in initiating major reforms in budgetary policy towards improved government operations, effective delivery of public projects and services, and better fiscal management,” the resolution further stated.