Jose de Venecia, Jr.

Who is Jose de Venecia, Jr.?

Jose Claveria de Venecia, Jr. also known as JDV or Joe De V is a former Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, serving from 1992 to 1998 and from 2001 to 2008. As Speaker, he was the fourth highest-ranking official of the Philippines. He was the former president of the Philippines' dominant party, LAKAS-CMD. He ran for president in the 1998 election but lost to Vice President Joseph Estrada, finishing second among 11 candidates.

Beginning in 1987, de Venecia has been elected to six terms as a Representative of the 4th District of Pangasinan. He served as Speaker of the Philippine House of Representatives throughout the Ninth, Tenth, Twelfth and Thirteenth Congresses of the Philippines. He had served for more than a year as the House Speaker of the Fourteenth Congress when on February 5, 2008, 174 representatives, or a considerable majority of members of the House, voted to remove de Venecia as Speaker. He is the first Filipino who has held the Speakership five times in separate terms.