Jose de Venecia Jr., the longest-serving Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, died Feb. 10, 2026. He was 89.
De Venecia held the speakership for a total of five terms, serving from 1992 to 1998 and from 2001 to 2008. He was the first Filipino to lead the chamber five times across separate terms. A member of the Lakas–CMD party, he was elected to six terms as a representative of the 4th district of Pangasinan starting in 1987.
In 1998, he sought the presidency but placed second among 11 candidates behind Joseph Estrada. His tenure as speaker concluded in February 2008 after 174 members of the House voted for his removal during the Fourteenth Congress.
Prior to his political career, de Venecia worked as a journalist and a diplomat, serving as Minister-Economic Counselor from 1966 to 1969. He authored several pieces of legislation, including the Build-Operate-Transfer Law, the Philippine Economic Zone Act, the Dollar Remittance Program, and the Bases Conversion and Development Act.