Ex-senator Herrera dies at 73

Former senator and trade union leader Ernesto “Boy” Herrera passed away yesterday at the Makati Medical Center. He was 73.

Herrera served the Senate from 1987 to 1998, after which he was elected congressman representing Bohol.

As a lawmaker, Herrera was responsible for landmark reforms in vocational education and training that resulted in the establishment of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). He was also the primary author of

Republic Act 6715 that amended the Labor Code in 1989. He was also chairman of the Committees on Labor, Employment, and Human Resources Development; Tourism; and Illegal Drugs. He was also a member of the powerful Commission on Appointments; the 1990 Congressional Commission on Education that reviewed and assessed the Philippine education system; and the 1992 Congressional Commission on Health. He was credited for at least 20 laws.

Before joining the field of politics, Herrera spent most of his life fighting for the cause of labor, mainly as secretary general of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP).

As a trade union leader, Herrera was the workers’ representative in the National Wages Council, the Social Security Commission, and the National Manpower and Youth Council.

He earned the distinction of being the only Filipino member of the executive board of the International Federation of Free Trade and Union in Brussels, Belgium, from 1988 to 1992. He also served as consultant on worker’s education of the International Labor Organization (ILO) in Geneva, Switzerland; and headed the Worker’s Delegation to the 75th Session of the ILO where he delivered a major address on human rights.

He was the first Asian and the second individual to receive the George Meany International Human Rights Awards in 1985. He was also conferred the International Award of Honor by the International Narcotics Enforcement Officers Association of New York, USA.

Already popular in the labor sector for fighting for the rights of workers, Herrera gained more prominence as a member of the Agrava fact-finding board that investigated the August, 1983, assassination of former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., father of incumbent President Aquino.

Herrera finished his bachelor’s degree in Law from the University of Visayas in 1966, and was awarded with a doctorate degree in Humanities, honoris causa. He graduated summa cum laude in 1995 with a master’s degree in Public Administration, major in Public Finance, at the Lyceum of the Philippines. His master’s thesis comprised of a comparative study of the tax systems of five ASEAN countries. Three years later, he obtained his Ph.D. in Fiscal Studies (magna cum laude) also at the Lyceum of the Philippines.