AURELIO “DONG” GONZALES

Aurelio “Dong” Dueñas Gonzales, Jr. was born on October 27, 1962 in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga. He finished his elementary and high school education at Anao Elementary School and Anao High School, respectively. Then. he completed his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and B.S. in Environmental and Sanitary Engineering from the Mapua Institute of Technology. He passed his Civil Engineering board exam on April 2, 1987.  

As an engineer, Rep. Gonzales was honored as the Most Outstanding Kapampangan in the Field of Business and Entrepreneurship in 2004. He is also the first Filipino civil engineer to be conferred the Honorary Membership by the Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines (ASEP). In 2009, he was awarded as one of the Ten Outstanding Mapuan in the Field of Civil Engineering.    

PUBLIC SERVICE RECORD 

Rep. Gonzales joined the public service when he ran and won as Board Member of the 3rd District of Pampanga in 2004. He also served as a Member of the House of Representatives in the 14th, 15th, 17th, 18th and 19th Congress. In his years of service, he has held various leadership positions in Congress as: Assistant Majority Leader (15th Congress), Vice Chairperson of the Committee on Public Works and Highways (17th Congress), Deputy Majority Leader (17th Congress), Chairperson of the Special Committee on Bases Conversion (18th Congress), and Deputy Speaker (18th and 19th Congress). He also served as the Executive Vice President, Vice President for Luzon and Treasurer of the PDP-Laban Party. Rep. Dong is currently on his last term as Representative of the 3rd District of Pampanga, and is one of the nine Deputy Speakers this 19th Congress.  

As a legislator, Rep. Dong has principally authored various national and local laws. Some of his most vital pieces of legislation enacted were Republic Act (RA) No. 9506 “An Act Creating the Bacolor Rehabilitation Council” or the Dong Gonzales Law; R.A. No. 11510 Alternative Learning System Act; R.A. No. 11684 Declaring Mt. Arayat as a Protected Area; R.A. No. 11711 Further Amending the Contractors’ License Law”; R.A. No. 9832 “An Act Converting the Don Honorio Ventura College of Arts and Trades into the Don Honorio Ventura Technological State University”; R.A. No. 11169 “An Act Renaming the Don Honorio Ventura Technological State University as the Don Honorio Ventura State University and Expanding Its Curricular Offerings”; and the recently enacted R.A. No. 11781 An Act Converting the Extension Campuses of the Don Honorio Ventura State University into Regular Campuses.”  

HONORS EARNED 

In recognition of his prolific career and outstanding demonstration of excellence and integrity in the field of public service, Rep. Gonzales was conferred twice by his alma mater, Mapua Institute of Technology, with the Outstanding Alumnus Award in the field of Public Service in 2009 and 2017. He is also the first recipient of a Doctor of Humanities honoris causa degree from the Don Honorio Ventura State University.