T H E  C L A R I O N  C A L L

          Dr. Bienvenido M. Abante Jr. was born in the outskirts of Sampaloc, Manila on July 15, 1951, the eldest of four sons of the late Rev. Ben O. Abante, Sr. and Priscilla Mirando. He has two younger brothers, Jose Hernes and Reuben, both ministers. His wife is Marie Paz Toledo Abante. He is a father of three children, two daughters and one son.

 

          Dr. Abante grew up taking on odd-jobs such as shining shoes, selling newspapers and corsages and working on a construction site at a tender age to support himself. He also worked in an accounting firm as an auditor to support his college education. In june 1975, he started the baptist youth impact, and on september of that same year, the Metropolitan Bible Baptist Church and Ministries in Sta. Ana was started. He graduated with a degree in theology, and also holds a Masters degree in Government Management from the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila and a doctorate in Theology from Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. In 1986, he founded a group called Biblemode(Bible Believers' league for morality and democracy), and heads the Abante International Ministries (AIM). He also heads the Grace and Truth Community International Foundation, Inc., and the Ben O. Abante Baptist Bible College.

 

          He ran and won a seat in Congress in May 2004. He was subsequently named chairman of the Committee on Public Information. His major undertakings in his district focused on health, education, social services and infrastructure development and/or improvement. Abante's committee also scrutinized the Right of Reply Bill that was criticized by the media organizations as a curtailment to the freedom of the press. He also proposed the Anti-Sex Video Bill that imposes stiffer penalties of the people involved in the manufacture of sex videos. He was one of the principal authors of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill during the 14th Congress. The FOI bill was defeated in Congress after its opponents questioned if there was a quorum on the final session day.