Lito Atienza

Jose "Lito" Livioko Atienza Jr. (; born August 10, 1941) is a Filipino politician. He served as a Party-list Representative for Buhay from 2013 to 2022, and was a House Deputy Speaker from 2020 to 2022. He served as the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources from 2007 to 2009 in the Administration of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and was 24th Mayor of Manila for three consecutive terms from 1998 to 2007. He unsuccessfully ran for vice president of the Philippines in the 2022 elections as the running mate of Senator Manny Pacquiao. He has been hosting the drama anthology television series Maynila on GMA Network since 1999. Early life and career Atienza was born on August 10, 1941, in the San Andres Bukid district of Manila, four months before the outbreak of World War II. Atienza's father, Jose J. Atienza Sr., was a distinguished public servant to three Philippine presidents. An uncle, Hermenegildo Atienza, was a World War II guerrilla leader and after the war was appointed Military Mayor of Manila by Gen. Douglas MacArthur himself and one of the founders of the Liberal Party in 1946. Another uncle, Rigoberto Atienza, a World War II veteran, a victim of the Bataan Death March and former Philippine Army commanding general, became Chief of Staff of the Philippine Armed Forces in the 1960s during the term of President Diosdado Macapagal. A third uncle, Arturo, became a renowned lawyer. The four brothers were all members of the Hunters resistance against the Japanese occupation during World War II. He took up his primary and secondary education from Ateneo de Manila University's Basic Education Unit and completed a Bachelor's Degree in Architecture from the University of Santo Tomas. His interest and degree in architecture proved useful in rehabilitating and renewing the City of Manila, which had fallen to decay over years of unmanaged growth in population and the lack of an urban planning & community development.