Sharing on being Sotto and Filipino

I have been asked by many to find time to write something about myself for a virtual space such as this — but indeed, words are priceless and time is so precious.

But yes, self-promotion is a skill and virtue that any politician may need to nurture. And oh — friends are just so persistent.

There is much out there that may have been written about me, especially as a public figure — a politician and artist. Most of those materials I would acknowledge as being kind enough. But perhaps the best accolade came from the well-respected statesman, and my former colleague, the late great Ka Blas Ople, who crafted these words for my term-end report for the Senate:

“Senator Sotto is indeed a phenomenal legislator and a great credit to the Senate as an institution. Senator Sotto, being so young in years and mature intellectually, is clearly marked for bigger things in the future. But no matter what is in store for him, he has already made good accounting of himself in the Senate of the Philippines, setting standards that will be emulated but not easily excelled.”

I cannot thank the memory of Ka Blas enough for such a lavish account. Beyond these, perhaps all I can really do is to rearticulate what have already been shared about me by others.

I was born on August 24, 1948, to Marcelino Ojeda Sotto and Dr. Herminia Castelo Sotto, who was a staunch women's rights activist and the first Medical Commissioner of Workmen's Compensation Commission and President Emeritus of the Kababaihang Rizalista ng Pilipinas.

I earned my Bachelor of Arts degree (Major in English) at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran. Beyond this, I have taken on other study programs the most relevant of which would be an Executive Program for Leaders in Development at the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government, which I completed in June 2000. I am proud to claim my degrees — I labored to earn them.

The thing that I most proud of however is my blissful conjugal partnership with Ms. Helen Gamboa of Pampanga, beauty titlist, multi-awarded actress and singer, and a loving mother to our four lovely children — Romina, Diorella, Gian and Ciara.

I am the third Sotto to become part of the Philippine Congress. Before my time, there was my granduncle Senator Filemon Sotto who was acknowledged during his time as one of the “Seven Wise Men of the Philippine Assembly” and served from 1916-1922. Then there is my grandfather Senator Vicente Yap Sotto of Cebu, a maverick senator and author of the Press Freedom Law, who served from 1946-1953.

Grandfather Senator Vicente Sotto, in particular, has been described as “a known nationalist politician and fiction writer.” He was born in Cebu City on April 18, 1877, and obtained a Law degree and passed the Philippine bar examinations in 1907.

In a 1950 Free Press Manila article, Lorenzo Tañada remarked on my grandfather’s passing away. "We have lost a fighter," The nationalist statesman Tañada wrote.

I can only hope that I am doing justice to the Sotto legacy of statemanship which my Lolo bequeathed.


On television, in the radio and in the movies, many of you perhaps simply know me by my comic involvement with the trio “Tito, Vic and Joey.” I have co-hosted Eat Bulaga, hosted Brigada Siete (a public affairs program that has garnered citations and trophies from renowned award-giving bodies), and done countless movies. That is a career in entertainment which spans three decades and began in the 70's.

I am an avid sportsman and, as a member of the Philippine Bowling Team, I could claim that I have brought home gold medals and honors to the country. I play golf and I have also won several tournaments, being a consistent Class A player.

But beyond all these, I have taken on the greatest challenge in my life. I have responded to the clarion call of public service, as it were.

I entered politics in 1988, first as Vice-Mayor of Quezon City. From then on, there has been no turning back.

And once more, I am in the thick of the electoral battle. It is something I feel I must do.

Why? The why has always been the common tao — the Filipino. And my family too, as part of that great Filipino nation. But in the final analysis, this is truly beyond legacy, beyond family — this is beyond being merely Sotto. This is all about being Filipino.

And what is being Filipino? Let that be a topic for my next posting.