Francis Pangilinan - Early Life

Early Life

Francis Pancratius Nepomuceno Pangilinan was born on August 24, 1963 in Manila to Donato Pangilinan, an engineer and entrepreneur from Pampanga, and Emma Nepomuceno, a public school teacher from Nueva Ecija and Marinduque. He is the fifth child in a brood of nine. His siblings are Maricel Arenas, Angeli Valenciano, Nenette Zipperich, Joseph, Anthony, Felichi Buizon, John Raymund and Donna Simpao. He is also a relative to Carmela Espiritu "Candy" Pangilinan, a comedienne-actress.

As a varsity athlete, he was an NCAA and UAAP track & field and Volleyball gold and silver medalist in the 80s. He ran the 400 meter hurdles and the 4x 400 m relay in the La Salle HS Track & Field team and played HS and College Varsity Volleyball for La Salle and UP.

Kiko, as he is widely known, first made his mark as a young lawyer giving free legal assistance on-air and closely monitored case progress through the television program “Hoy Gising!” over ABS-CBN where he was a co-anchor and segment host. He also anchored radio programs, including “Batas” and “Relos Report with Atty. Kiko” over DZMM, programs aimed at making the Philippine’s legal court system more understandable to the masses by increasing their understanding of their rights and duties under the law.

As a writer, had an opinion column in the Times Journal in the 80s and the Manila Times in the 90s.

As an educator and academician, he taught constitutional, labor and civil law at the Ateneo de Manila University from 1993 to 2000.

In 1997, he left the country for Boston, Massachusetts U.S.A. along with his wife, celebrity Sharon Cuneta and daughter to pursue his Master of Public Administration at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government where he graduated with a general average of A-.

After an 18-month hiatus from local broadcast media, he returned by conceptualizing and then hosting “Barangay Dos”, a service-oriented television program aired over ABS-CBN, dedicated to finding solutions to the everyday problems of the common Filipinos. The program established him as an intelligent, articulate, working, and involved lawyer and a media personality.

He led his Senate Volleyball team to win the championship in the Senate Olympics held last July 2008.

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