Cesar Virata

Cesar Emilio Aguinaldo Virata (born 12 December 1930) is a Filipino politician and businessman who was the fourth Prime Minister of the Philippines from 1981 to 1986. He is the eponym of the Cesar Virata School of Business, the business school of the University of the Philippines Diliman.

One of the Philippines' business leaders and leading technocrats, he served as Finance Minister from 1970 to 1986 under President Ferdinand Marcos. It was during this time that the Philippines became economically strong through healthy trade and budgetary surpluses. However, other studies show budgetary deficits during the same period (PIDS, Budget Deficits, 2004, 4(1)), particularly during the later years of the Marcos regime. These deficits were precipitated by the oil crises' and the mass protests against the Marcos regime (supported by the international financial community) following the assassination of opposition leader Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr.

Virata served as Prime Minister of the Philippines from 1981 to 1986 under the Interim Batasang Pambansa and the Regular Batasang Pambansa, concurrently with his position as Finance Minister.

Cesar Virata and wife Phylita "Joy" Gamboa Virata at the eulogy for Onofre Corpuz, April 1, 2013.

He also headed the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), the country's highest economic planning body, while also serving as the Prime Minister. Virata was the third to occupy the position and was succeeded by economist Vicente Valdepeñas, Jr..

Post-EDSA

He was replaced as Prime Minister in the aftermath of the 1986 People Power Revolution by Salvador Laurel. Laurel succeeded Virata as Prime Minister on 25 February 1986, through the appointment of Corazon Aquino, but the position was abolished a month later by Proclamation No. 3 (the 'Freedom Constitution'). The office was confirmed as superseded by the 1987 Constitution, which restored the double office of head of state and head of government to the President.

Prior to assuming leadership positions in the government service during the Marcos regime, Virata used to teach at the business school of the University of the Philippines Diliman. He served as dean of the College of Business Administration, which was named after him on April 12, 2013 by the University of the Philippines Board of Regents (BOR) as the Cesar E.A. Virata School of Business. Several interest groups, including U.P. Kilos Na, have protested this renaming of the business school, and the BOR decided to restudy its decision during its board meeting held last July 29, 2013.Some members in certain interest groups, including U.P. Kilos Na, the UP Diliman University Council, undergraduates of the UP College of Business, and in the BOR itself then objected to renaming the business school after Virata. The matter was discussed at length in a series of meetings which resulted in the BOR re-affirming its decision to rename the college after Virata.

Virata is married to Phylita Joy Gamboa, a popular stage actress, and has three children: Steven Cesar, a businessman; Gillian Joyce, an educator; and Michael Dean, a doctor specializing in infectious diseases. The grandnephew of the first President, Emilio Aguinaldo, Virata holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Virata is also an accomplished tennis player. His uncle, Leonides Sarao Virata, also served during under Marcos as Secretary of Trade and Industry and chairman of the Development Bank of the Philippines.

• Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (2016)
• Most Distinguished Brother, Pan Xenia International Professional Foreign Trade Fraternity

• Kristine Angeli Sabillo (25 November 2016). "Marcos admin PM Virata receives award from Japanese gov't". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 25 November 2016.