Risa Hontiveros

Ana Theresia Navarro Hontiveros-Baraquel (born February 24, 1966) is a Filipino politician, community leader, and journalist serving as a Senator since 2016.

Hontiveros was born on February 24, 1966, in Manila, to a Panayanon lawyer father and an executive secretary mother.

She was raised in Merville Park, Parañaque.

At age 14, she was part of Repertory Philippines' adaptation of The Sound of Music as one of the Von Trapp children along with Lea Salonga, Monique Wilson, and Raymond Lauchengco.

It was also during this period when she was first introduced to activist pursuit as an organizer in her high school in the campaign against the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant.

Hontiveros graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in social sciences from the Ateneo de Manila University.

While at the Ateneo, she was active in the student council, where she participated in advocacies for peace and justice in marginalized communities.

Like her younger sister Pia Hontiveros, she was also a television journalist and news anchor.

The older Hontiveros worked for two television networks in the country, IBC (Headline Trese) and GMA Network (GMA Network News).

She previously served as a party-list representative for Akbayan from 2004 to 2010.

In the Senate, Hontiveros sponsored the SOGIE Equality Bill and was an opposition figure to President Rodrigo Duterte, particularly on his controversial war on drugs.

She is the de facto leader of the opposition to the administration of President Bongbong Marcos, following the end of Vice President Leni Robredo's term.

Since 2024, Hontiveros also co-hosts the radio program Oras at Bayan on Veritas 846.

Hontiveros first entered politics as the third nominee of the Akbayan party-list in the 2004 national elections.

She was one of the prominent opposition figures of the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo administration, especially during the height of the Hello Garci controversy of 2005.

On the International Women's Day of 2006, she was arrested and brought to Camp Caringal in Quezon City without a warrant.

Running under the ticket of then-senator (later president) Benigno Aquino III, Hontiveros lost in the 2010 national elections, placing 13th overall.

Running under President Aquino's Team PNoy ticket, Hontiveros ran again for a senate seat in the 2013 midterm election.

In December 2014, Hontiveros was inducted as a trustee of the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation board.

Hontiveros ran again for senator and won in the 2016 election under the Koalisyon ng Daang Matuwid of President Benigno Aquino III.

Landing ninth place, she was proclaimed a senator-elect by the Philippine Commission on Elections, sitting en banc as the National Board of Canvassers, on May 19, 2016.

In November 2016, Hontiveros, along with hundreds of progressive groups, protested the sudden burial of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos in the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Hontiveros authored Senate Bill No. 1345, or the Philippine Mental Health Bill, which aims to create a mental health law for the Philippines by integrating mental health care services and programs into the nation's public health system and ensuring its availability in all hospitals nationwide.

However, she lost for the second time, placing 17th in the Senate race.

Her campaign slogan was Paglalaban ka, aalagaan ka ("Will fight for you, will take care of you") which reflected the gains from enacting the Reproductive Health Law and the continuing struggle for universal health care and good governance.

In the aftermath, Hontiveros acknowledged Senator Serge Osmeña's observation of her mixed messages in the campaign may have been the reason for her loss.

The bill was filed on February 17, 2017, and passed the Senate on May 2.

A staunch opponent of the re-imposition of the death penalty, Hontiveros, along with some other senators, announced in February 2017 that they would block any attempt to legislate such a law after the House of Representatives passed their version of the bill.

Following the murders of Kian delos Santos, Carl Arnaiz and Reynaldo de Guzman, Hontiveros opposed the deadly Philippine drug war.

She was one of the main initiators of a Senate investigation against the police personnel that killed delos Santos.

She also took legal custody of the case witnesses, with proper written consent from the minor and their parents, after fears of police retaliation against the witness surfaced.

Hontiveros was the principal author and sponsor of Republic Act No. 10932, or the "Act strengthening the Anti-Hospital Deposit Law", which increases the penalties for hospitals that demand deposits or advance payments before administering basic emergency services.

In September 2017, Hontiveros caught Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II drafting fabricated charges against her through text messages during a hearing on the deaths of minors in the drug war.

Aguirre's text messages instructed former Negros Oriental representative Jacinto Paras, a member of the controversial advocacy group Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, to 'expedite' cases against Hontiveros.

Aguirre used the same tactic against Senator Leila de Lima, which led to de Lima's arrest a few months past.

The revelation was protested nationwide as President Rodrigo Duterte's justice secretary was allegedly focused on arresting Hontiveros instead of focusing on the murder case.

Despite the pieces of evidence presented in the Senate, Secretary Aguirre still filed cases against Hontiveros in October.

On September 13, 2017, Hontiveros, along with other senators, vowed to convince their House counterparts to restore the proposed ₱678-million (estimated US$13.3-million) budget of the Philippine Commission on Human Rights, which criticized Duterte's deadly drug war, for 2018 after the House downgraded the commission's budget to only ₱1,000 (about $20).

The budget was eventually restored after major public and Senate appeals.

In December 2017, Hontiveros became one of the recipients of the first-ever Ripple Awards by the non-governmental organization LoveYourself, which are given to "brave individuals who have made a significant impact in spreading HIV/AIDS awareness, stopping the spread of the virus, and helping to fight the stigma suffered by their communities".