Who Was Rep. Rolando 'Nonoy' Andaya Jr.?
On Thursday, June 30, former Camarines Sur Representative Rolando “Nonoy” Andaya Jr. was found dead inside his home at Andaya’s Residence, Saint Jude Orchard Subdivision, Concepcion Grande, Naga City with what appeared to be a bullet wound to his head. The Police Regional Office 5 report released officially noted of his sudden death at 7 a.m., and was confirmed by his children, Ranton and Katrina. Andaya was 53.
“With deep grief and sadness, we announce the untimely death of our father, former member of the House of Representatives, Rolando “Nonoy” G. Andaya, Jr., this morning, June 30, 2022,” the siblings posted on their father’s official Facebook page.
Andaya's untimely passing comes after his failed gubernatorial bid in the 2022 Philippine elections in Camarines Sur. The ex-congressman initially wanted to run for Camarines Sur's first district congressional seat, but chose to ran for governor instead.
He campaigned under the Nationalist People’s Coalition, but lost to Luigi Villafuerte, the son of Camarines Sur second district reelectionist Rep. Luis Raymund “LRay” Villafuerte and brother of three-term governor Miguel Luis “Migz” Villafuerte. The Villafuertes have been seated in the region's gubernatorial post since 1995.
Back in 2020, Andaya's wife, former Rep. Marissa Andaya, succumbed to cancer.
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His political career
Born on March 10, 1969 to parents Rolando Andaya Sr. and Rita Gutierrez, the younger Andaya was a veteran politician who came from a political clan. He graduated with a degree in Business and Economics, major in Legal Management from De La Salle University in 1991 and obtained a Bachelor of Laws degree from Ateneo de Manila University in 1995.
During the 2022 Philippine Elections, Andaya ran for governor again after losing to Migz Villafuerte in 2019. He was also a vocal supporter of opposition candidate and former Vice President Maria Leonor "Leni" Robredo. He had previously been planning on backing Sara Duterte for the position before Duterte ended up becoming President Bongbong Marcos' running mate.
In 2018, Andaya was elected House Majority Leader after the ouster of Pantaleon Alvarez. He also chaired the House Committee on Appropriations.
In the past, he has held positions as a Camarines Sur first district representative, serving from 1998 to 2006 and from 2010 to 2019, and Department of Budget and Management (DBM) secretary, being appointed by then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2006.
Prior to his work in the Lower House, Andaya worked at the Securities and Exchange Commission from 1996 to 1998.
His father was a former congressman, while his grandfather, Tomas, was once the mayor of Ragay, Camarines Sur back in the '60s. His younger sister, Maribel Andaya-Eusebio, was the mayor of Pasig City from 2013 to 2016.
Controversies
There was an administrative complaint filed against the former Camarines Sur Representative back in 2018 by the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission at the Office of the Ombudsman after he and his wife allegedly failed to declare some properties in his 2016 and 2017 Statements of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN). Andaya dismissed it as an attempt at a "hatchet job" in connection with his 2019 gubernatorial campaign.
In 2014, Andaya, an ally of the Arroyo administration, was part of a group of admin officials who were implicated in the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam. Allegedly, when he was still Budget Secretary, he had received a sum of P255 million as "commission" for projects under the Department of Agrarian Reform. He denied any involvement in the scam.
Plunder charges had also been filed against him, Arroyo, and other accused cohorts in 2013 at the Ombudsman by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for their alleged involvement in the Malampaya Fund scam. Four years later, the Ombudsman charged Andaya, together with Janet Lim-Napoles and former Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman with 97 counts of graft and malversation before the Sandiganbayan.
In 2018, the former congressman had evaded a supposed assassination attempt after he filed his certificate of candidacy for the 2019 polls. Another attempt on his life was made in 2021. This was after two motorcycle-riding assailants shot at his vehicle at Barangay Palestina, in Pili, Camarines Sur.
His wake is scheduled on July 1 to 4 at the Heritage Memorial Park in Taguig City.
