Marcelino Libanan

Marcelino Libanan (born September 20, 1963), known as Nonoy, is a Filipino politician and is currently the House Minority Leader of the Philippines. He was formerly the Vice Governor of Eastern Samar, the Congressman for Eastern Samar, being awarded a standing ovation from the Public Attorney's Office of the Philippines, he went on to be a party-list representative for the 4Ps Party-list in 2022, later being elected as the House Minority Leader of the Philippines.

Background
Marcelino 'Nonoy' Libanan was born on September 20, 1963, in Taft, Eastern Samar, he was born to Atty. Camilo C. Libanan and Pacita C. Libanan, he went to Taft Elementary School for elementary, Seminario de Hesus Nazareno for high school, and Divine Word University for College.

Libanan confirmed his relationship with Katipunero Valentín Díaz, stating that his great-grandmother, Basilia Diaz, was the daughter of Valentin Diaz, after an announcement by Secretary Gilbert Teodoro.

Political career
Marcelino Libanan was elected as the Vice Governor of Eastern Samar from 1992 to 1995.

In 1998, he was the Congressman for Eastern Samar's at-large congressional district for three terms, varying with the parties Laban ng Makabayang Masang Pilipino (LAMMP), Lakas-CMD, and Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC). During his tenure as Congressman, he was awarded a standing ovation from the Public Attorney's Office of the Philippines after signing a law giving special allowance to PAO officials. He resigned early to be the Bureau of Immigration Commissioner on April 18, 2007.

In 2022, he became the House Minority Leader of the Philippines with the political party 4Ps.

Political positions
Marcelino Libanan has various political positions, including:

Tensions between the Philippines and China
Libanan urged Filipinos' to "have unity", and to "rally behind President Bongbong Marcos" during tensions between the Philippines and China. He also supported closing all Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators in the Philippines.

Agriculture
Libanan supported appointing a chief for the Department of Agriculture during the 2nd State of the Nation Address (SONA) of Bongbong Marcos. He also criticized Marcos being the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture.

Education
Libanan filed a bill considering the act of expanding the Department of Education to integrate more languages, expanding the reach of Overseas Filipino Workers.

Tourism
Libanan plans to quadruple the budget of the Department of Tourism, stating that the expanding of the budget will "economically expand the country."

MSU Bombing
Libanan condemns the Mindanao State University bombing, stating that the individuals who did the bombing "must pay".

Balangiga bells
In 1998, when he was still the representative of Eastern Samar, Libanan signed a bill for the return of the Balangiga bells from the US Government. The bells eventually returned in 2018.

Controversies
In July 2017, Marcelino Libanan and former Eastern Samar Governor Clotilde Salazar was accused by The Field Investigation Office (FIO) of the Office of the Ombudsman for graft by using fertilizer funds. But the indicators found no graft offense.

In July 2022, Representative Edcel Lagman criticized the practices of Libanan and criticized the process of selecting the House Minority Leader.