Francis Tolentino

Francis Tolentino is the ninth and current chairman of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) of the Republic of the Philippines. He was appointed by President Benigno Aquino III on July 27, 2010.

Tolentino was mayor of Tagaytay City for 10 years. He was appointed by former President Corazon Aquino as OIC Mayor of Tagaytay from 1986 to 1987, during the transition to Redemocratization.

During the 1992 elections, he ran for Mayor of Tagaytay, but lost to Benjamin Erni. Two years later, in a decision by the Supreme Court, he won the previous elections and his supporters went to Tagaytay City Hall to remove supporters of Erni. Erni committed suicide the Mayor’s office in January 1995 and Tolentino took charge of the city. He ran unopposed in the 1995 elections, which led to growth in the city known by most Manileños (natives of Manila) as an alternative summer capital to Baguio.

Under his mayoral administration, he created the Tagaytay Office of Public Safety, which became the basis of the rules currently done by MMDA enforcers. He also initialize the Character First programs which encourages governments, government leaders, civic organizations and religious organizations to band together to establish a “city” or “community” of character with a character traits of a Filipino every month.

Under the term of Bayani Fernando as MMDA head, many structures such as fences and pedestrian overpasses were painted pink. Inocentes replaced this with the color green. When asked about his favorite color, Tolentino answered…”rainbow”.

Other Information

• Current Position: Chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (July 27, 2010-present)
• Other Positions Held
• Appointed OIC – City Mayor, Tagaytay City (1986-1988) after EDSA I Revolution
• Elected Mayor of Tagaytay City for three (3) consecutive terms (1995-2004)
• President, League of Cities of the Philippines (2001-2004)
• Executive Vice President, Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (2001-2004)
• Profession : Lawyer
• Occupation :  Environmentalist