Raul Daza

Raul A. Daza (born May 2, 1935) is a Filipino lawyer, certified public accountant, and politician, who served in the House of Representatives of the Philippines for 20 years as Representative of the 1st District of Northern Samar (1987–1998; 2010–2013 and 2016–2019). Although he could still seek another term under the term-limit provisions of the Constitution, at 86 he chose not to stand for re-election in the 2019 national elections. He was also a three-term governor of the same province from 2001 to 2010; the Representative of the Lone District of Northern Samar from 1969 until the declaration of martial law in 1972.

Daza was born in Manila, Philippines on May 2, 1935, to Raymundo B. Daza, a lawyer, and Rosario Aguila, a public school teacher. He has eight siblings consisting of four brothers (Antonio, Raymundo Jr., Manuel and Jose) and four sisters (Tomasa, Linda, Nora and Lila). Five (Tomasa, Linda, Antonio, Raymundo Jr. and Manuel) have died. His remaining brother (Jose) lives in the Philippines while two (Nora and Lila) live in the United States.

He graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Laws from the University of the Philippines College of Law in 1957 and was inducted as a member of Phi Kappa Phi International Honor Society (Philippine chapter) in the same year.

He placed 11th in the 1957 bar examinations and is a lifetime member of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.

He married Teresita S. Ruiz, now a retired businesswoman, on December 5, 1959, in the historic San Agustin Church in Intramuros, Manila. Their 62-year marriage is blessed with four children: Paul, a Congressman, whose wife Gigi is a beauty-and-wellness entrepreneur; Gina, who is married to Australian businessman Manjit Sadhwani; Apple, who is also married to an Australian businessman Kieran Dwyer; and John, a self-taught I.T. engineer and former Network Operations Manager (cybersecurity), who is presently studying for a formal degree, and whose wife is Nori, a Filipino-American university grants coordinator.

He later graduated cum laude from the University of the East with a degree in Business Administration in 1961.

Before entering politics in 1967, he engaged in private law practice in the Philippines.

Daza entered active politics in 1967, when he ran in the special election for Representative of the then Lone District of Northern Samar to fill the unexpired term of Representative Eladio T. Balite, who had died. He lost to Vice Governor Eusebio Moore, the candidate of the administration Nacionalista (Nationalist) Party. However, in the 1969 regular national elections, as the candidate of the opposition Liberal Party he beat Moore for the same position and was elected congressman representing the Lone District of Northern Samar for one term until the declaration of Martial Law.

Having passed the 1968 Philippine CPA examinations, he is a sustaining life member of the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA).

He held office in the 7th Congress from December 1969 to January 1973, when Congress was abolished by President Ferdinand Marcos, who assumed dictatorial powers under a new constitution after declaring martial law throughout the country on September 21, 1973.

Facing imminent arrest, he fled to the United States on January 23, 1973, where later he sought and was granted political asylum by the U.S. government. Within the year his wife and children followed him. After the House of Representatives was abolished by President Ferdinand Marcos, Daza and his family went to the United States.

Hurdling the 1974 California attorneys examination, he has been a member of the State Bar of California since that year.

In 1974, he also passed the California CPA examination. He is a former member of the California Society of Certified Public Accountants.

After joining the State Bar of California in 1974, he practiced law in Los Angeles County until 1985, when he returned to the Philippines from self-exile in the United States.

After Ninoy Aquino's assassination, he returned to the Philippines on August 12, 1985, although he had a pending arrest warrant. In August 1985, President Marcos stated Daza and other opponents living abroad may return to the Philippines but "must face any charges against them." Daza returned to the Philippines the following week with 14 other opposition leaders. One day after his arrival, he was put under arrest and forthwith arraigned before a Quezon City court on an indictment charging him for multiple violations of the Marcos-era anti-subversion law.

Granted bail due to pressure from a group of U.S. senators, he joined the opposition "parliament of the streets" and campaigned for Ninoy's widow Cory Aquino against Marcos in the snap election of February 7, 1986

In 1986, he was appointed by Corazon Aquino as Deputy Minister of the Presidential Commission on Good Government until 1987 when he announced his candidacy as Representative of First District of Northern Samar.

During the opening of the 9th Congress, he was eventually elected as Speaker Pro Tempore succeeding Antonio Cuenco. By 1995, he became Deputy Speaker for Visayas until 1998. He also became the President of Liberal Party in 1994 succeeding Wigberto Tanada. He held that position until 1998.

After his tenure as congressman, he was appointed Commissioner of the Presidential Commission on Constitutional Reforms from 1999 to 2000. In 2001, he won as governor of Northern Samar. He was re-elected in 2004 and 2007.

He was elected congressman again in 2010 and regained his seat from his son Paul after he swapped places with the latter. In 2013, he lost his congressional seat to Harlin Abayon. In 2016, he regained the seat from Abayon after the latter was disqualified by the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal. This was reversed by the Supreme Court, but speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr.. did not heed the court's decision and paved way for Daza's return. During his return as congressman, he was part of the minority at age 82 after President Rodrigo Duterte's party PDP–Laban gained a supermajority in the House of Representatives.