Rowena Guanzon

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Rowena Guanzon

| image = CommGuanzon300x355v2.png

| imagesize =

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| caption = Official portrait of Guanzon as a COMELEC commissioner

| office1 = Commissioner of the Commission on Elections

| term_start2 = April 28, 2015

| term_end2 = February 2, 2022

| appointer2 = Benigno Aquino III

| predecessor2 = Elias Yusoph

| successor2 = Aimee Torrefranca-Neri

| office3 = Commissioner of the Commission on Audit

| term_start3 = March 18, 2013

| term_end3 = December 2013

| appointer3 = Benigno Aquino III

| predecessor3 = Juanito Espino Jr.

| successor3 = Jose Fabia

| office4 = Mayor of Cadiz

| term_start4 = March 26, 1986{{efn|Served as Officer in Charge Mayor of Cadiz from March 26, 1986 to June 30, 1988.}}

| term_end4 = June 30, 1992

| appointer4 = Corazon Aquino

| predecessor4 = Prudencio Olvido

| successor4 = Vicente Tabanao

| birth_name = Maria Rowena Amelia Villena Guanzon

| birth_place = Cadiz, Negros Occidental, Philippines

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1957|08|29}}{{Cite web |title=8. P3PWD |url=https://comelec.gov.ph/php-tpls-attachments/2025NLE/COC_2025NLE/COC_Partylist162/8.%20P3PWD.pdf |access-date=October 30, 2024 |website=Commission on Elections}}

| death_date =

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| party = P3PWD (Party-list)

| spouse =

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| alma_mater = University of the Philippines Diliman (BA, LL.B.)
Harvard University (MPA)

| profession = Lawyer, Public Servant, Politician

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Maria Rowena Amelia Villena Guanzon ({{IPA|tl|rɔˈwena ˈgwanzon}}, born August 29, 1957), is a Filipina lawyer, public servant, and politician who notably served as Philippine Commission on Elections commissioner from 2015 to 2022 under President Benigno Aquino III and President Rodrigo Duterte.{{Cite web|url=https://comelec.gov.ph/?r=AboutCOMELEC/CommissionMembers/CommGuanzon|title=Commission on Elections - Commissioner Ma. Rowena Amelia V. Guanzon|date=March 28, 2018|website=Commission on Elections}} She had been an audit commissioner before taking office at the Philippine Commission on Elections in February 2015.{{cite web|url=http://news.abs-cbn.com/halalan2016/nation/01/12/16/duterte-camp-blasts-comelec-commissioner|title=Duterte camp blasts Comelec commissioner|last=Cruz|first=RG|website=ABS-CBN News}}

Guanzon was mayor of Cadiz in Negros Occidental until 1992,{{Cite news |last=Weston |first=Bonnie |date=22 August 1987 |title=Facing down warlord is part of job for young mayor |page=B-5 |work=The Gazette (Montreal)}} and also served as chief of staff to Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago.{{cite web|url=https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/550662/news/nation/comelec-commissioner-guanzon-says-miriam-santiago-is-her-idol/|title=Comelec commissioner Guanzon says Miriam Santiago is her idol|website=GMA News Online|date=January 10, 2016 }}

Early life and education

Guanzon was born on August 29, 1957, to the prominent Guanzon family of Negros Occidental,{{Cite web|url=https://www.guanzongroup.com.ph/stores/roxas/|title=Roxas|date=2018-06-30|website=Guanzon Merchandising Corporation|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-27}} known for its sugarcane plantations or {{langx|es|haciendas|label=none}}.{{Cite web|url=https://www.sunstar.com.ph//article/52976|title=Pacete: Hacienda culture in Negros politics|last=Pacete|first=Ver F.|date=2016-01-15|website=Sunstar|language=en|access-date=2019-08-27}} Her father is now-retired Regional Trial Court judge Sixto Roxas Guanzon, while her mother, Elvira Causing Villena, is a lawyer and former Cadiz vice-mayor.{{cite web|url=https://www.sunstar.com.ph//article/52093/Business/Rowena-Guanzon-Comelec-version-of-Miriam-Santiago|title=Rowena Guanzon: 'Comelec version' of Miriam Santiago|date=September 29, 2016|website=Sunstar}}

"Bing" attended Yuba City High School in California as an exchange student 1974-75.

Guanzon attended Silliman University High School in Dumaguete. She then took up economics at the University of the Philippines Diliman, and upon graduation proceeded to earn her law degree from the University of the Philippines College of Law, graduating in the top ten of her class and receiving a dean's medal.{{Cite web|date=28 March 2018|title=Commissioner Ma. Rowena Amelia V. Guanzon|url=https://comelec.gov.ph/index.html?r=AboutCOMELEC/CommissionMembers/CommGuanzon|website=Commission on Elections, Republic of the Philippines}}

Guanzon also holds a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government,{{Cite news |title=SU alumna named Comelec Commissioner |work=Dumaguete Post |url=https://dumaguetemetropost.com/su-alumna-named-comelec-commissioner-p6021-583.htm |url-status=live |access-date=2022-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130091036/https://dumaguetemetropost.com/su-alumna-named-comelec-commissioner-p6021-583.htm |archive-date=2022-01-30}} where she was an Edward S. Mason fellow and class marshal.

Career

=Mayor of Cadiz=

Guanzon was appointed mayor of Cadiz, Negros Occidental in 1986 under the

Provisional Government of the Philippines, which was formed after the 1986 People Power revolution that ousted the Marcos regime and led to the exile of Ferdinand Marcos.

At 28, the appointment made Guanzon the youngest mayor in the Philippines. She was appointed after several other candidates had declined to be mayor of Cadiz, fearing violence from local strongman Armando Gustilo,{{Cite news |last=Williams |first=Nick B. Jr. |date=1986-07-05 |title=Philippine Strongman Feeling Pressure: New Mayor, Old-Style 'Don' Wrestle for Grass-Roots Power |language=en-US |newspaper=LA Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-07-05-mn-20287-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=2022-01-30 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220129152343/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-07-05-mn-20287-story.html |archive-date=2022-01-29}} who had played a key role in the Escalante massacre just a few months earlier, in September 1985.{{Cite web |date=2015-10-12 |title=Escalante Massacre |url=https://www.bantayog.org/escalante-massacre/ |access-date=2022-01-30 |website=Bantayog ng mga Bayani |language=en-US}} Due to the constant harassment by Gustilo and his supporters, she had to carry firearms for defense, even during social occasions and public events.

The provisional government soon proposed a new constitution, and its ratification in February 1986 meant that appointed local government posts would be replaced by elected officials from the 1988 Philippine elections. Guanzon ran and then won the seat she had been appointed to, as Cadiz mayor.

She served as mayor until the end of her term in 1992.{{Cite web |last=Gomez |first=Carla P. |date=2022-01-30 |title=Rowena Guanzon: Who's this poll exec in a fighting mood days before retirement? |url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1547044/whos-this-poll-exec-in-fighting-mood-days-before-retirement |access-date=2022-01-30 |website=INQUIRER.net |language=en}}

=University of the Philippines College of Law, Diliman=

Guanzon taught Election Law and Local Government at the University of the Philippines College of Law in UP Diliman.

=Commission on Audit=

On March 8, 2013, she was appointed commissioner to the Commission on Audit (COA),{{Cite web|url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/373179/law-professor-named-audit-commissioner|title=Law professor named audit commissioner|last=Gomez|first=Carla P.|date=2013-03-13|website=INQUIRER.net|language=en|access-date=2022-01-15}} promising "to give priority to gender and development" upon her appointment.{{cite web |url=http://coa.gov.ph/index.php/2013-06-19-13-07-50/news-releases/95-new-coa-commissioner-prioritizes-gender-and-development |title=News Releases - New COA Commissioner prioritizes gender and development |website=coa.gov.ph |access-date=5 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140818123929/http://coa.gov.ph/index.php/2013-06-19-13-07-50/news-releases/95-new-coa-commissioner-prioritizes-gender-and-development |archive-date=18 August 2014 }} The COA commissioners at the time were Chairperson Ma. Gracia M. Pulido Tan and Commissioner Heidi L. Mendoza, and Guanzon's filling of the third seat made the COA an all-women-led agency. Guanzon served in the COA until December 2013.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2015-05-05 |title=In the Know: New elections officials |url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/689264/in-the-know-new-elections-officials?fbclid=IwY2xjawIwv_1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHeROzHX-TtAMDnTP_W3v-67_Z2odRVbcOLIGDMiJ3tDh7zP_kP4FeT25Lg_aem_BV2tcOmfZj5Zc0xvY3ZoWw |access-date=2025-03-02 |website=INQUIRER.net |language=en}}

=Commission on Elections=

On April 28, 2015, Guanzon was named a commissioner to the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) for a seven-year term, lasting until February 2022.

During the 2022 Philippine presidential election, Guanzon notably presided over the disqualification cases filed against presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos that were raffled to the COMELEC First division. Days before retirement, Guanzon publicly named fellow commissioner Aimee Ferolino as "the one delaying the decision in favor of Marcos" before leaving the post. Guanzon claimed that Ferolino was purposely delaying her resolution regarding the disqualification case for Guanzon's vote to not be counted because of pending retirement. Guanzon publicly expressed dismay against Ferolino, and mentioned that an "influential senator" was also interfering with the case. Meanwhile, Ferolino lambasted Guanzon for "mind conditioning" the public against her and reiterated that "she needed more time".{{cite web |title='His wife already knows,' Guanzon says of senator behind delay in Bongbong Marcos' DQ cases |url=https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1548115/his-wife-already-knows-guanzon-says-of-senator-behind-delay-in-bongbong-marcos-dq-cases |website=inquirer.net |date=February 2022 |access-date=February 1, 2022}} Eventually, the First Division decided to junk the petition in favor of Marcos after Guanzon's retirement.{{Cite news|date= 2022-02-10|title=Comelec division dismisses DQ cases vs. Marcos|last1=Patinio |first1=Ferdinand|url=https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1167546|website=pna.gov.ph|agency= Philippine News Agency|access-date=2022-03-18|language= en-PH}}

=P3PWD Party List=

Rowena Guanzon campaigned for the P3PWD Party List during the 2022 House of Representatives elections although she was not among the official nominees of the organization. The partylist won a single seat.{{cite news |title=Guanzon in limbo as P3PWD nominee despite celebratory posts as incoming solon |url=https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2022/5/16/Guanzon-in-limbo-P3PWD-nominee-.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516171627/https://www.cnnphilippines.com/news/2022/5/16/Guanzon-in-limbo-P3PWD-nominee-.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 16, 2022 |access-date=26 May 2022 |work=CNN Philippines |date=16 May 2022}}{{cite news |last1=Cruz |first1=RG |title=Comelec yet to receive substitution docs for P3PWD party-list |url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/16/22/comelec-yet-to-receive-substitution-docs-for-p3pwd-party-list |access-date=26 May 2022 |work=ABS-CBN News |date=16 May 2022}}

On June 14, 2022, all of P3PWD's nominees withdrew and a new set of nominees was named with Guanzon as its first nominee. The Commission on Elections approved the substitution and Guanzon took oath on June 23. Guanzon's assumption of her position as P3PWD representative was halted by a temporary restraining order by the Supreme Court taking action on the petition of Ronald and Ducielle Marie Cardema of the Duterte Youth.{{cite news |last1=Macairan |first1=Evelyn |title=SC halts Guanzon party-list bid |url=https://www.philstar.com/nation/2022/06/30/2191847/sc-halts-guanzon-party-list-bid |access-date=14 July 2022 |work=The Philippine Star |date=30 June 2022}}{{cite news |last1=Locus |first1=Sundy |title=Comelec asks Guanzon to answer petition to cancel her party-list nomination |url=https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/topstories/nation/838219/comelec-asks-guazon-to-answer-petition-to-cancel-her-party-list-nomination/story/ |access-date=14 July 2022 |work=GMA News |date=14 July 2022 |language=en}} In 2024, the Supreme Court barred Guanzon from taking her congressional office by nullifying her nomination, citing grave abuse of discretion by COMELEC in approving her substitution past the designated deadline.{{Cite web |title=SC: Party-list nomination of ex-Comelec exec Rowena Guanzon null and void |url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/2024/11/20/sc-party-list-nomination-of-rowena-guanzon-null-and-void-1512 |access-date=2024-11-20 |website=ABS-CBN |language=en}}

Publications

Guanzon's published works include Issues and Problems in the Enforcement of the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004, Philippine Law Journal (Dec 2008); Constitutional Challenges to the Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act of 2004, Journal of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (March 2009); The Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act: Issues and Problems, Journal of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines; and Legal and Conceptual Framework of Battered Woman Syndrome as a Defense, Philippine Law Journal (Vol. 86, No. 1 December 2011).

The U.P. Law Center also published Guanzon's book, The Anti-Sexual Harassment Act Notes and Cases in 2014. Guanzon is currently writing textbooks on The Local Government Code for the University of the Philippines and The Auditing Code of the Philippines Casebook.