First lady lawyer to become Topnotcher in the Philippine Bar Examination. She bested all bar examinees in 1930. Congresswoman. Senator.

~oOo~

Name:  Tecla San Andres Ziga

Birth

• Date:  23 August 1906
• Place:  Naga City, Camarines Sur

Family

• Spouse: Venancio Ziga, former Governor and Congressman from the first district of Albay
• Children: One (Victor)

Education

• Elementary:  Sta. Isabel College
• High School:  Catholic Central School
• College:  University of the Philippines — she was a consistent scholar all throughout her stay in UP
  • She first obtained her degree in Liberal Arts
  • She eventually graduated with honors from the College of Law
  • Took the Bar Exams the same she graduated in 1930, and topped it (her score in Remedial Law was 99%!)

Career Highlights

• After topping the Bar Exams in 1930, she was immediately taken in as assistant attorney in the DeWitt law office where she worked for seven years.
• She was also the topnotcher in the Civil Service Examination for Lawyers in 1937, after which she was employed in the Department of Justice where she served for several years.
• She was asked to serve as one of the Legal Assistants to the Code Committee that revised the Philippine legal codes.
• She is one of the founders of the Liberal Party in Albay.
• She was elected into the House of Representatives in November 1955 (initially to serve the unfinished term of her brother-in-law who had died in an accident).  She went on to serve for two terms.
  • In the halls of Congress, she distinguished herself for her vigilant fiscalizing and genuine concern for women and children.
  • She sponsored measures for the protection of women and children, regulation of practice in dietetics, etc.
• She also served as Administrator of the Social Welfare Administration.
• She was elected Senator in 1963.
  • Senate Committee memberships:  Agriculture and Natural Resources, Education, Foreign Affairs, Blue Ribbon, Community Development, Social Justice and Welfare, etc.

Affiliations

• Women Lawyers Association of the Philippines
• Social Welfare Board (SWA-UNICEF Assisted Social Services Project)
• Special Events Committee, Children’s Museum and Library, Inc.
• Civic Assembly of Women
• Philippine Committee, Federacion Internacional de Abogadas
• League of Women Voters of the Philippines
• Board of Trustees, Nutrition Foundation of the Philippines
• Eye Research Foundation.

Recommended Online References

• Former Senators of the Philippines: Tecla Ziga
• Wikipilipinas.org: Tecla San Andres-Ziga
• www.zoominfo.com: People

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