Arnulfo Fuentebella

Background

Arnulfo "Noli" Fuentebella was born in October 29, 1945 in Camarines Sur to former Representative and Governor Felix A. Fuentebella and Rita Palma.

Education

He was educated in his home province and spent most of his life in scouting until he reached Life Scout. He studied law at the University of the Philippines in 1970 and graduated being the 7th in his class and passed the Bar Exams in 1971.

Career

He is a former representative of the Third (now Fourth) District of Camarines Sur, more popularly known as the Partido District. At the age of 15, Fuentebella was a Philippine delegate to the 50th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America in 1960. Political and Professional But after President Ferdinand East. Marcos imposed martial rule and called for elections to the Interim Batasang Pambansa (Iowa Beef Processors), Noli was chosen by the President to run in Congress to represent Partido.

However, he lost his bid for a seat in the 1984 Regular Batasang Pambansa and used the hiatus to practice law in New York, where he was admitted to the State Bar.

Then the EDSA Revolution happened and President Marcos fled into exile. As the Fuentebellas had been identified with the Marcoses, Noli opted to sit out the Cory Aquino years.

In 1992, political allies asked him to run again in Congress. On January 20, 2001, during the EDSA Revolution of 2001, Estrada left the Malacañan Palace and Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was sworn to the presidency at the EDSA Shrine by Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Junior.

Accompanying Davide were the chairs of the two houses of Congress, Aquilino Pimentel and Fuentebella.

In the interim, Noli took up post-graduate courses at the Kennedy School of Governance of Harvard University. He was very instrumental for the proposed creation of a new province to be called as Nueva Camarines, which will be composed of the Fourth and Fifth Legislative Districts of Camarines Sur. In the 14th Congress of the Philippines, Fuentebella was elected Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines for Luzon.

Achievements

• He subsequently won the elections and served as an assemblyman in the Iowa Beef Processors from 1978 to 1984. Noli returned to the fray and won three consecutive terms as Congressman (1992-2001). After then Speaker Manuel Villar, Junior. passed the President Joseph Estrada"s Articles of Impeachment to the Senate, Fuentebella was elected Speaker after Estrada"s allies in the House of Representatives motioned to make all positions in the House vacant. Fuentebella won the nomination. Noli ran again for Congress and won three more consecutive terms (2004-2013).