{{Short description|Filipino lawyer and Chairperson of the Commission on Elections (1991–1995)}} {{Philippine name|Santos|Monsod}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Christian Monsod | website = | signature = | portfolio = | office = Chairperson of the Commission on Elections | term_start = June 6, 1991 | term_end = February 15, 1995 | appointer = Corazon Aquino | predecessor = Haydee Yorac | successor = Bernardo P. Pardo | office2 = Member of the Philippine Constitutional Commission | president2 = Corazon Aquino | term_start2 = June 2, 1986 | term_end2 = October 15, 1986 | profession = Lawyer | alma_mater = | relations = | birth_name = Christian Santos Monsod | party = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1936|7|16}} | birth_place = Parañaque, Philippines | spouse = Solita Monsod | children = 5 | alt = | image = Christian Monsod from the Constitutional Commission (1986).jpg | caption = Monsod from the ''Official Directory of the Constitutional Commission'', {{circa|1986}} | footnotes = }} '''Christian Santos Monsod''' (born July 16, 1936) is a Filipino lawyer who served as chair of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC). He was one of the framers of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Muslim lawyers ask: Who is Sheriff Abas?|language=en|work=Manila Standard|url=https://manilastandard.net/news/headlines/176570/muslim-lawyers-ask-who-is-sheriff-abas-.html|access-date=2020-07-17}}</ref> He is the founder and honorary chair of the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE) and pioneer of the National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL).<ref>{{Cite news|date=1986-02-10|title=Philippines: strife rises over differing vote counts. Vote-count standoff expected to bring protests|work=Christian Science Monitor|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1986/0210/ocheat.html|access-date=2020-07-17|issn=0882-7729}}</ref>
==Early life and education== Monsod graduated from the University of the Philippines College of Law. He is a member of the Upsilon Sigma Phi.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Upsilon Sigma Phi - History|url=http://upsilon.com/history/|access-date=2020-07-17|website=Upsilon Sigma Phi|language=en-US|archive-date=2020-06-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626115026/http://upsilon.com/history/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=BusinessWorld {{!}} Some members of my cast|url=http://archives.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Arts&Leisure&title=some-members-of-my-cast&id=51494|access-date=2020-07-17|website=archives.bworldonline.com|language=en-US}}</ref> He passed the bar examinations in 1960.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=G.R. No. 100113 September 3, 1991 - RENATO L. CAYETANO v. CHRISTIAN MONSOD, ET AL. {{!}} Home of ChanRobles Virtual Law Library|url=https://lawlibrary.chanrobles.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=31800:g-r-no-100113-september-3,-1991-renato-l-cayetano-v-christian-monsod,-et-al&catid=1280&Itemid=566|access-date=2020-07-17|website=lawlibrary.chanrobles.com}}</ref>
==Career== Monsod worked for his father upon passing the bar. He worked for the World Bank Group from 1963 to 1970, and worked there as an operations officer for about two years in Costa Rica and Panama, negotiating loans and coordinating legal, economic, and project work of the bank. Upon returning to the Philippines in 1970, he worked with the Meralco Group and served as chief executive officer of an investment bank and subsequently of a business conglomerate. In 1975, he was awarded the Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) Award for Finance.
He served as secretary-general of NAMFREL during the 1986 Philippine presidential election and eventually as its national chair in 1987. During the Corazon Aquino administration, he was appointed chair of the Commission on Elections. Monsod was formerly co-chair of the Bishops Businessmen's Conference for Human Development and has worked with underprivileged sectors, such as farmer and urban poor groups, in initiating, lobbying for, and engaging in affirmative action for the agrarian reform law and lately the urban land reform bill. Since 1986, he has rendered services to various companies as a legal and economic consultant or chief executive officer.<ref name=":0" />
In 1995, he received The Outstanding Filipino (TOFIL) Award for government service and received an honorary Doctorate of Laws from the Ateneo de Manila University.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ateneo de Manila University|url=http://202.125.102.18/index.php?p=120&type=2&aid=9367|access-date=2020-07-17|website=202.125.102.18}}</ref> In 2012, he received the Joe C. Baxter Award for his work on election administration.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2014-09-06|title=IFES - 2012 Joe C. Baxter Award Reception|url=http://ifes.org/Content/Events/2012/2012-Joe-C-Baxter-Award-Reception.aspx|access-date=2020-07-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140906161509/http://ifes.org/Content/Events/2012/2012-Joe-C-Baxter-Award-Reception.aspx|archive-date=2014-09-06}}</ref>
==Personal life== He is married to economist Solita "Winnie" Monsod.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The love story of Mareng Winnie and Atty. Christian Monsod|url=https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/293749/newstv/bawalangpasaway/the-love-story-of-mareng-winnie-and-atty-christian-monsod/|access-date=2020-07-17|website=GMA News Online|language=en-US}}</ref> They have five children.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Straight up and straight talk with Winnie Monsod|url=https://www.manilatimes.net/2015/06/13/weekly/the-sunday-times/straight-up-and-straight-talk-with-winnie-monsod/191530/|access-date=2020-07-17|website=The Manila Times|date=13 June 2015|language=en-US}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monsod, Christian}} Category:People from Parañaque Category:University of the Philippines College of Law alumni Category:20th-century Filipino lawyers Category:21st-century Filipino lawyers Category:Members of the Philippine Constitutional Commission of 1986 Category:1936 births Category:Living people