Cesar Enrique Aguinaldo Virata (born December 12, 1930) is a Filipino former statesman and businessman who was the fourth Prime Minister of the Philippines from 1981 to 1986. Serving concurrently as Secretary of Finance from 1970 to 1986, Virata was the chief economic technocrat during the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos. He is currently serving as the corporate vice chairman of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation. He is the eponym of the Cesar E.A. Virata School of Business (VSB), the business school of the University of the Philippines Diliman, a naming designation that has sparked public controversy due to his high-level association with the Marcos martial law regime.
Early life and education
Cesar Enrique Aguinaldo Virata was born on December 12, 1930, in Kawit, Cavite to a family of middle-class landowners. His father was a mathematics professor at the University of the Philippines (UP), later becoming an acting president for the university.
Government service
Finance minister
left|thumb|Virata at the World Economic Forum in 1983
He served as Finance Minister from 1970 to 1986 under President Ferdinand Marcos.
During his tenure as Finance Minister, he oversaw the national budget and restructured debt. He also established more hydroelectric plants in hopes of making the Philippines less reliant on foreign energy.
Prime Minister of the Philippines
thumb|left|1984 portrait of Virata as Prime Minister
Virata served as Prime Minister of the Philippines from 1981 to 1986 under the Interim Batasang Pambansa and the Regular Batasang Pambansa, concurrently with his position as Finance Minister.
He also headed the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the country's highest economic planning body, while also serving as the prime minister. Virata was the third to occupy the position and was succeeded by economist Vicente Valdepeñas, Jr.
After the 1986 EDSA Revolution
He was replaced as prime minister in the aftermath of the 1986 People Power Revolution by Salvador Laurel. Laurel succeeded Virata as prime minister on February 25, 1986, through the appointment of Corazon Aquino, but the position was abolished a month later by Proclamation No. 3 (the 'Freedom Constitution'). The office was confirmed as superseded by the 1987 Constitution, which again fused the offices of the head of state and the head of government in the President.
Academe
Prior to assuming leadership positions in the government service during the Marcos administration, Virata taught at the business school of the University of the Philippines Diliman. He served as dean of the College of Business Administration, which was named after him on April 12, 2013, by the University of the Philippines Board of Regents (BOR) as the Cesar E.A. Virata School of Business. This decision was driven by a commitment from businessman and UP alumnus Magdaleno Albarracin, who pledged to donate ₱40 million to the university, conditioned upon the board's approval to rename the college after Virata.
The renaming sparked protests from several sectors within the UP community, including faculty, U.P. Kilos Na and UP School of Business Student Council. The objectors argued against honoring Virata, with many citing his role as a top-ranking official and enabler of the Marcos dictatorship, Because of this intense backlash, the BOR decided to restudy its decision during its board meeting held on July 29, 2013. The matter was discussed at length in a series of meetings which resulted in the BOR re-affirming its decision to rename the college after Virata.
Personal life
thumb|right|225px|Cesar Virata and wife Phylita "Joy" Gamboa Virata at the [[eulogy for Onofre Corpuz, April 1, 2013.]]
Virata is married to Phylita Joy Gamboa, a Philippine stage actress and theater director. Together, they have three children: Steven Cesar, a businessman; Gillian Joyce, an educator; and Michael Dean, a physician specializing in infectious disease. Virata is a grandnephew of the first president of the Philippines, Emilio Aguinaldo, and half-nephew to Leonides Sarao Virata, who also served under the Marcos regime as Secretary of Trade and Industry and chairman of the Development Bank of the Philippines. Outside of his professional life, Virata is known to be an accomplished tennis player. Virata is a member of the Philippine Independent Church.
Biographies
Virata's life and his impact on Philippine economic history have been the subject of various books. The most of extensive biography to cover Virata as its main subject is Gerardo Sicat's biography, Cesar Virata: Life and Times Through Four Decades of Philippine Economic History (2014). Sicat was a top economist during the Marcos dictatorship and a close associate of Virata. He is also one of the main subjects of Teresa S. Encarnacion Tadem's Ateneo Press book Philippine Politics and the Marcos Technocrats: The Emergence and Evolution of a Power Elite (2019).
Honors
- 45px|ribbon bar Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (2016)
- Most Distinguished Brother, Pan Xenia International Professional Foreign Trade Fraternity
See also
- Prime Minister of the Philippines
- National Economic and Development Authority (Prime Minister was also the head of the NEDA)
- Gerardo P. Sicat, 2014. Cesar Virata Life and Times Through Four Decades of Philippine Economic History, Diliman, Quezon City: The University of Philippines Press, .