Abraham Tolentino

{{Short description|Filipino politician and sports administrator (born 1964)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Abraham Tolentino

| image = Rep. Abraham Tolentino (18th Congress PH).jpg

| imagesize = 250x250px

| alt = Representative Abraham Tolentino

| caption = Tolentino in 2022

| office = Mayor of Tagaytay

| term_start = June 30, 2004

| term_end = June 30, 2013

| predecessor = Francis Tolentino

| successor = Agnes Tolentino

| term_start1 = June 30, 2022

| term_end1 = June 30, 2025

| predecessor1 = Agnes Tolentino

| successor1 = Aizack Brent Tolentino

| office2 = Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives

| term_start2 = December 16, 2020

| term_end2 = June 30, 2022

| predecessor2 = Lord Allan Velasco

| successor2 =

| office3 = Member of the House of Representatives from Cavite

| term_start3 = June 30, 2019

| term_end3 = June 30, 2022

| predecessor3 = New district

| successor3 = Aniela Bianca Tolentino

| constituency3 = 8th district

| term_start4 = June 30, 2013

| term_end4 = June 30, 2019

| predecessor4 = Jesus Crispin Remulla

| successor4 = Jesus Crispin Remulla

| constituency4 = 7th district

| office5 = 12th President of the Philippine Olympic Committee

| term_start5 = July 28, 2019

| term_end5 =

| predecessor5 = Joey Romasanta

| successor5 =

| office6 = Member of the Tagaytay City Council

| term_start6 = June 30, 1998

| term_end6 = June 30, 2004

| birth_name = Abraham Ng Tolentino

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1964|2|23}}

| birth_place = Tagaytay, Cavite, Philippines

| nationality = Filipino

| party = NUP (2021–present)

| otherparty = PDP–Laban (2016–2021)
UNA (2015–2016)
Liberal (2010–2015)
Lakas–CMD (1997–2010)

| relatives = Francis Tolentino (brother)

| children = 3 (including Aniela and Athena)

| residence = Tagaytay, Cavite, Philippines

| alma_mater = San Beda College (BS)
Lyceum of the Philippines University (MS)

| occupation = Politician, Sportsperson

| religion =

| website =

| footnotes =

}}

Abraham "Bambol" Ng Tolentino (born February 23, 1964) is a Filipino politician who currently serves as the president of the Philippine Olympic Committee. He previously served as the mayor of Tagaytay from 2004 to 2013 and from 2022 to 2025, representative of Cavite's 8th district from 2019 to 2022 and the 7th district from 2013 to 2019.{{cite web |url=https://www.congress.gov.ph/members/search.php?id=tolentino-a|title=Hon. Tolentino, Abraham "Bambol" N. |accessdate=January 30, 2022|publisher=House of Representatives of the Philippines}}

Early life and education

Abraham Tolentino was born on February 23, 1964. He is the youngest of the two sons of Atty. Isaac O. Tolentino, who was the longest-serving mayor of Tagaytay. He is the brother of Francis Tolentino, also a former mayor of Tagaytay and incumbent senator.

Tolentino had his primary education at the St. Augustine School in Mendez, Cavite, and his secondary education at the St. Anthony School in Malate, Manila. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Commerce (Major in Management) degree at San Beda College (now San Beda University) and his Master of Science in Fiscal Studies at the Lyceum of the Philippines University. Tolentino took an Executive Course on Leadership, Chaos, Conflict & Courage for the 21st Century at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University and Executive Course on National Security at the Institute for Extramural and Continuing Studies, National Defense College of the Philippines.{{Cite web |title=MW Abraham N. Tolentino {{!}} The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines |url=https://grandlodge.ph/about/past-grand-masters/mw-abraham-n-tolentino |access-date=2022-08-10 |website=grandlodge.ph}}

Political career

In 1998, he was elected as City Councilor of Tagaytay and served until 2004. He ran for mayor in 2004 and won; he was re-elected in 2007 and 2010. In 2013, he defeated Gilbert Remulla as Congressman of the newly created 7th district of Cavite. He was re-elected in 2016 and in 2019, this time at the newly created 8th district.

His other positions include:

Member - Commission of Appointments
Vice Chairman - Committee of Agrarian Reform
Chairman - Committee of Agriculture and Food
Vice Chairman - Committee of National Defense
Vice Chairman - Committee of Rules and Resolutions

On July 10, 2020, Tolentino is one of the 70 representatives who voted to "yes" to deny the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN.{{cite news|title=List of lawmakers who voted for and against ABS-CBN franchise renewal |work=Philstar.com |url=https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2020/07/10/2027049/list-lawmakers-who-voted-and-against-abs-cbn-franchise-renewal |date=July 10, 2020 |accessdate=July 22, 2020 |last=Perez-Rubio |first=Bella}} On December 16, he was named as one of the Deputy Speakers of the House of Representatives.

Tolentino, being term-limited as representative, ran for Mayor of Tagaytay in 2022 and won, running unopposed. However, he chose not to seek re-election in 2025; his party nominated his son Brent Tolentino for the position.{{cite news|url=https://manilastandard.net/news/elections-2025/314548385/tolentinos-revillas-face-no-challengers-in-cavite.html|title=Tolentinos, Revillas face no challengers in Cavite|first=Dennis|last=Abrina|date=January 19, 2025|accessdate=January 27, 2025|work=Manila Standard}}

Involvement in sports

Tolentino served as the President of the Philippine Olympic Committee since 2019.{{cite news |last1=Go |first1=Beatrice Lauren |title=Starting over: Bambol Tolentino elected as new POC president |url=https://www.rappler.com/sports/236469-bambol-tolentino-wins-poc-president-special-elections-july-28-2019/ |access-date=29 November 2024 |work=Rappler |date=28 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211230102106/https://www.rappler.com/sports/236469-bambol-tolentino-wins-poc-president-special-elections-july-28-2019/ |archive-date=30 December 2021}} He secured a second mandate after winning the 2024 election.{{cite news |title=Bambol Tolentino secures landslide victory in POC elections |url=https://tiebreakertimes.com.ph/tbt/bambol-tolentino-secures-landslide-victory-in-poc-elections/321744 |access-date=29 November 2024 |work=Tiebreaker Times |date=29 November 2024}}

He also served as the Secretary-General of FIDE/World Chess Organization, President of ASEAN Chess Zone 3.3, Secretary-General of the National Chess Federation of the Philippines, and is currently the President of Philcycling.

Personal life

He is married to Dr. Agnes (née Delgado) Tolentino, the incumbent vice mayor and former mayor of Tagaytay. They have three children. Their eldest daughter, Aniela Bianca, is the incumbent representative of the 8th district of Cavite.{{cite news|url=https://www.manilatimes.net/2021/11/11/news/regions/tolentino-withdraws-bid-for-congress/1821688|title=Tolentino withdraws bid for Congress|first=Dennis|last=Abrina|work=The Manila Times|date=November 11, 2021|accessdate=November 14, 2021}} Their second daughter, Athena Bryana, last served as the Governor of Cavite from 2024 to 2025.{{cite web|url=https://thecaviterising.com/meet-the-contenders-in-cavite-for-the-2022-elections/|title=Meet the contenders in Cavite for the 2022 elections|website=Cavite Rising|first=Archie|last=Villaflores|accessdate=January 30, 2022|date=October 11, 2021}}{{cite news|url=https://mb.com.ph/2022/05/10/remulla-tolentino-proclaimed-cavite-governor-vice-governor/|title=Remulla, Tolentino proclaimed Cavite governor, vice governor|first=Carla Bauto|last=Deña|date=May 10, 2022|accessdate=May 23, 2022|work=Manila Bulletin}} Their youngest son, Aizack Brent, is the mayor of Tagaytay since 2025.

He is a Past Grand Master of the Free & Accepted Masons of the Philippines.{{cite web|url=https://grandlodge.ph/about/past-grand-masters/mw-abraham-n-tolentino|title=MW Abraham N. Tolentino|accessdate=January 30, 2022|website=The Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the Philippines}}