Mark Cojuangco
Mark O. Cojuangco (born October 6, 1957), is the former Representative of 5th District of Pangasinan, in the Philippines, he also served as the vice-chairman of Committee on Appropriations.[1]
House Bill 04631 and Wikipedia
Mark O. Cojuangco is the author of the controversial House Bill 04631 that mandates the immediate re-commissioning and commercial operation of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, appropriating funds therefor, and for other purposes.
As the main proponent of the Bill is Representative Mark Cojuangco's presentation at the Congressional hearing on February 2, 2009 came under scrutiny from the Bill's oppositors for citing Wikipedia articles about nuclear plants in other countries and quotes from non-experts like Patrick Moore, who left Greenpeace in 1986, to argue for the re-commissioning of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant.[2]
Personal life
He is married to his wife Kimi Cojuangco. His half- Brother, Miguel Cojuangco II is a doctor.
From 2001 to 2010, Mark Cojuangco served as the Representative of the 5th District of Pangasinan. He focused on infrastructure projects, believing that quality and not just the quantity of projects are the catalyst for economic development. Specially so, if these are benchmarked against those of our neighbor and competitor countries. “There is no need to invent, rather, we observe what works well elsewhere, integrate, and do it right.”
He believes that catalysis will be the result of an ultimate change in people’s mindset and perspective as they experience the difference in the functionality, utility and productivity brought about by well thought out and quality projects. “Hindi na pwede ang pwede na”, as he says.
His accomplishments include: the lobbying for and successful monetization and continuous release of the 12 years overdue tobacco tax share of Burley tobacco producing areas throughout the country amounting to 6.5Billion pesos, initially. Innovations such as: precast concrete arch bridges of 12m spans, concrete tower silos, people’s donation for road right of way of widened barangay roads, advanced drilling technology which resulted in truly potable barangay water systems, prepaid water dispensing, multi-level school buildings, surface irrigation systems, travelling irrigator systems, radial irrigation gates, the use of digital terrain models in flood basin drainage design and implementation, among others. Not even public restrooms were spared of innovation, as 5-star facilities now exist in the town plazas of his district, being most welcome by balikbayans, returning OFWs and kamag-anaks from abroad as well as their guests.
His last projects include the widening and rehabilitation of the Manila North Road and the initiation of the Western Urdaneta Bypass Road which he believes will make Urdaneta the premiere city of Pangasinan.
In all his programs, he is actively involved in the planning and design of these projects, going as far as to establishing his own private engineering department to ensure that every centavo of public funds are well spent.
Unwavering, Mark Cojuangco pursues measures he knows will benefit the Filipino, no matter what the public opinion may be. For example; his goal in pushing for national energy independence and competitiveness which would be better clean and at an affordable price. This therefore included pushing nuclear power to be part of the country’s energy mix, among many others.
Even after his nine years as Congressman, Mark Cojuangco continues to work for the betterment of the 5th Distrcit of Pangasinan. He is currently working on the completion of the establishment of a regional Tropical Dairy Industry, which he started in 2004. The first module, located in the barangay of Maraboc in Laoac, Pangasinan is already nearing completion. With this module alone, the 5th District of Pangasinan Dairy and Minor Livestock Cooperative already produces an average of 1,500 liters of fresh milk a day, with 5,000 liters/day as an ultimate goal. This has led to the filing of House Bill 4441 by his wife Rep. Kimi S. Cojuangco, who was the former Mayor of Sison and now incumbent representative of the 5th District of Pangasinan, which is aimed at protecting the local Dairy Industry.
Mark has 2 girls and a boy; Danielle, 29, Stanford University grad; Paola, 28, Sta. Clara University grad, now Med Proper, UST; and Eduardo III, Sta. Clara University grad.