{{Short description|Filipino politician (born 1934)}} {{Philippine name|Ebarle|Tañada}} {{BLP sources|date=June 2011}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Wigberto Tañada | image = Wigberto Tañada (cropped).jpg | caption = Tañada in 2018 | office = Senate Minority Leader | term_start = January 18, 1992 | term_end = June 30, 1995 | predecessor = Juan Ponce Enrile | successor = Edgardo Angara | office2 = Senator of the Philippines | term_start2 = June 30, 1987 | term_end2 = June 30, 1995 | office3 = Member of the House of Representatives from Quezon's 4th district | term_start3 = June 30, 1995 | term_end3 = June 30, 2001 | predecessor3 = Manolet O. Lavides | successor3 = Georgilu R. Yumul-Hermida | office4 = Chairman of the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation | successor4 = Chel Diokno | term_start4 = October 24, 2016 | term_end4 = August 30, 2022 | office5 = Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs | term_start5 = 1986 | term_end5 = 1987 | president5 = Corazon Aquino | predecessor5 = Ramon J. Farolan | successor5 = Alexander A. Padilla | office6 = 10th President of the Liberal Party | term_start6 = June 2, 1993 | term_end6 = October 17, 1994 | predecessor6 = Jovito Salonga | successor6 = Raul Daza | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1934|08|13}} | birth_place = Gumaca, Tayabas, Philippine Islands | party = Liberal | spouse = Azucena Reyes | relations = Vicente Tañada (grandfather)<br />Lorenzo Tañada Jr. (brother) | children = 4, including Erin | parents = Lorenzo Tañada<br />Expedita Ebarle-Tañada | alma_mater = Ateneo de Manila University (BA)<br />Manuel L. Quezon University (LL.B)<br />Harvard University (LL.M) | occupation = | birth_name = Wigberto Ebarle Tañada }} '''Wigberto "Ka Bobby" Ebarle Tañada Sr.''' ({{IPA|tl|tɐˈɲada|lang}}; born August 13, 1934) is a Filipino politician and lawyer. He is member of the Liberal Party and a former member of the Senate of the Philippines (1987–1995)<ref>{{cite web|title=Senate of the Philippines, 8th and 9th Congress|url=http://www.senate.gov.ph/senators/senlist.htm}}</ref> and Philippine House of Representatives representing the Quezon's 4th District (1995–2001). He is the son of the late former senator Lorenzo M. Tañada, known as the "grand old man of the Philippine politics".
==Early life and career== {{BLP unreferenced section|date=July 2022}} Tañada was one of nine children born to Lorenzo Tañada Sr. and Expedita Ebarle. He studied at Quezon Elementary School from 1942 to 1944. In 1944, he transferred to Gumaca Central School. The next year he moved to St. John's Academy. He finished his elementary and secondary education at Ateneo de Manila University in 1948. He received his Bachelor of Arts at Ateneo de Manila University in 1952. In 1956, he received his Bachelor of Laws degree at Manuel L. Quezon University and passed the bar exams four years later. He received his Master of Laws degree at Harvard Law School. His father taught him to save on money during his studies, while sending "''balikbayan''" (back home) gifts of San Miguel Beer to his dormitory.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Capozzola|first=Christopher|title=Lorenzo Tañada|url=https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2020/11/features-vita-lorenzo-tanada|date=December 2020}}</ref>
==Political life== [[File:The Honorable Wigberto Tañada (Senator of the Philippines).jpg|thumb|left|Tañada as a senator, photograph released by the Philippine Congress, {{circa|1988}}]] In the 1980s, Tañada was a member of the Movement of Attorneys for Brotherhood, Integrity, and Nationalism Inc. (MABINI).<ref name="BusinessDay"/> In May 1985, Tañada became a member of the newly established Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), where he was given the position of vice president for Southern Luzon while his father Lorenzo served as national chairman.<ref>{{cite news|title=BAYAN Plans for the Future|work=Philippine Report|publisher=Philippine Resource Center|date=May–June 1985|page=6}}</ref>
On March 7, 1986, after the People Power Revolution ousted the Marcos family from power, Tañada was appointed Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs by President Corazon Aquino, replacing Brigadier General Ramon Farolan.<ref name="BusinessDay">{{cite news|title=Officers elected|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x_fjoxMwRV8C|access-date=February 5, 2026|work=Business Day|via=''Daily Report: Asia & Pacific''|date=March 4, 1986|page=24|quote=Son of former Sen. Lorenzo Tanada, the new acting Bureau of Customs head is an active member of Southern Tagalog Attorneys for Nationalism (STAN).}}</ref> He ran for senator under the banner of LABAN (Coalition of the Liberal Party, PDP-Laban, NUCD, Bansang Nagkakaisa sa Diwa at Layunin (BANDILA), etc.) and won. In the same year, he became a member of Judicial Bar Council. In 1991, he led the "Magnificent 12", the group of the senators who support the rejection of a new lease for the Subic Bay Naval Base. The next year in 1992, he ran again for senator under the banner of Liberal Party–PDP–Laban alliance, and he was elected for a three-year term, the last remaining Liberal candidate that won in this election. In 1993, he became the president of the Liberal Party.<ref>{{cite web|title=Senate Minority Floor Leader Wigberto E. Tañada, Liberal Party of the Philippines|url=http://www.liberalparty.org.ph/LP12011/About_LP_Presidents.html}}</ref> After his tenure as a senator on 1995, he was elected as a member of the Philippine House of Representatives representing the Quezon's 4th District. He was re-elected on 1998. In 2001, he ran again for senator under the banner of Liberal Party (People Power Coalition) but did not win. Recipient of the 1999 TOFIL Award for government and public service.{{citation needed|date=February 2026}}
==See also== *Lorenzo M. Tañada *Lorenzo "Erin" Tañada III *Gumaca, Quezon
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== *Philippine House of Representatives Congressional Library
==External links== *{{cite web | url = http://www.senate.gov.ph/senators/senlist.htm | title = List of Senators | access-date =September 16, 2006 | publisher = Senate of the Philippines |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060914045431/http://www.senate.gov.ph/senators/senlist.htm <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date =September 14, 2006}}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|ph-upr}} {{s-bef|before=Juan Ponce Enrile}} {{s-ttl|title=Senate Minority Leader|years=1992–1995}} {{s-aft|after=Edgardo Angara}} |- {{s-par|ph-lwr}} {{s-bef|before=Manolet Lavides}} {{s-ttl|title=Member of the House of Representatives<br>from Quezon's 4th district|years=1995–2001}} {{s-aft|after=Georgilu Yumul-Hermida}} {{s-end}}
{{navboxes |title=Senatorial history of Wigberto Tañada |list= {{8th Congress of the Philippines senators}} {{9th Congress of the Philippines senators}} }}
{{Quezon House Representatives}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanada, Wigberto}} Category:1934 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century Filipino lawyers Category:Ateneo de Manila University alumni Category:Commissioners of the Bureau of Customs of the Philippines Category:Harvard Law School alumni Category:Liberal Party (Philippines) politicians Category:Manuel L. Quezon University alumni Category:Members of the House of Representatives of the Philippines from Quezon Category:Minority leaders of the Senate of the Philippines Category:People from Quezon Category:Presidents of the Liberal Party (Philippines) Category:Senators of the 8th Congress of the Philippines Category:Senators of the 9th Congress of the Philippines Wigberto