PRESIDENT Benigno S. Aquino III has appointed a former student activist and UST Journalism alumnus as his adviser on political affairs last January 21, adding to the growing number of Thomasians named to government posts.
Ronald Llamas, a former Varsitarian features editor, is president of the Akbayan Citizens’ Action Party, which endorsed Aquino’s presidential bid.
Malacañang Palace said Llamas, who frequents the shooting range with the President, will serve as a “bridge” to political parties.
In 1981, Llamas became the president of AB Student Council and wrote the first student constitution in the University in order to check the administration’s meddling. Other colleges followed suit. Later, the Central Student Council was formed.
Llamas also wrote for Hudyat, the official newsletter of the then Samahan ng mga Tomasino sa Pamamahayag (now the UST Journalism Society), and The Flame, the official student organ of the Faculty of Arts and Letters.
Llamas personally gave a letter to Pope John Paul II containing the Filipino students’ sentiments against the Marcos dictatorship during the Pontiff’s first papal visit to the country.
After graduation, Llamas joined the trade unions and pushed for the approval of the party-list law, which would enable grassroots leaders to form alternative political groups and become members of the House of Representatives.
In 1998, Akbayan was formed, and Llamas was elected as its president.
Other Thomasians earlier appointed to top government posts were Paquito Ochoa Jr., Eduardo de Mesa, and Joel Villanueva as executive secretary, presidential legal counsel, and head of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, respectively.
