Vicente Sotto III
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Vicente "Tito" C. Sotto III (born August 24, 1948) is a former senator in the Philippines Congress. He served two terms in the Senate, from 1992 to 2004.
The brother of Vic, Marcelino, and Val Sotto and the grandson and grandnephew of former Senators (Vincent Yap Sotto and Filemon Sotto), "Tito" entered politics in 1988, when he was elected Vice-Mayor of Quezon City. While Vice Mayor, he made drug eradication a priority; he was named National Vice-Chairman of the Citizen's Drugwatch, and was twice awarded the International Award of Honor by the International Narcotics Enforcement Officers Association. He also established the Vice-Mayors League of the Philippines and became its first President.
Sotto was elected to the Senate in 1992, as part of the Ninth Congress, wining a total of 11,792,121 votes. During his first term, Senator Sotto served as Assistant Majority Floor Leader and Chairman of the Senate Committees on Local Government, Tourism, Youth and Sports Development, Illegal Drugs, and Rural Development. He was also a member of the Commission on Appointments. Sotto was reelected in 1998, with the highest vote total of any returning Senator; in his second term he was made Chairman of the Senate Committees on Public Services and the Senate Committee on Science and Technology and Vice-Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance. During this period, he also served as Assistant Majority Leader (in the Eleventh Congress) and Assistant Minority Floor Leader (in the Twelfth). Sotto's term ended in 2004.
Prior to his entry into public service, Sotto was a composer, musician, actor, and television personality. Among his musical compositions is the "Magkaisa", considered the anthem of the 1986 People Power Revolution. On television, Sotto co-hosted Eat Bulaga, which is the longest running program in Philippine history, and hosted Brigada Siete, a public affairs program. He is also an accomplished bowler, and was a member of the Philippine National Bowling Team.
Sotto is married to Helen Gamboa, a beauty titlist an actress, singer, and beauty pageant winner. They have four children, Romina, Diorella, Gian, and Ciara, and two grandsons, Romino and Victorio.
