Antonio Cuenco


Antonio "Tony" Veloso Cuenco was a Filipino politician who served as a council member for the 2nd District of the Cebu City Council. He also served as the Secretary-General of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Assembly from 2010 to 2013 and as representative of the 2nd District of Cebu City in the House of Representatives.

Personal life

Born on March 26, 1936, to a well-known family in Cebu, the Cuenco family, "Tony" was the son of former Gov. Manuel Cuenco and Milagros Veloso-Cuenco, the grandnephew of former Rep. Miguel Cuenco, and the grandson of the former Senate President, Mariano Jesús Cuenco. He was married to former congresswoman, Nancy Roa-Cuenco with four children; Cebu City Councilor James Anthony Cuenco, Cebu City Councilor Ronald Cuenco, Antonio Cuenco, Jr., and Cynthia Cuenco-Dizon.
He spent his secondary education in Ateneo de Cagayan, and received his Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Law degrees from Ateneo de Manila University.

Political career

At 29, he was one of the youngest Congressmen elected during the 6th Congress. He had also been a member of the 8th, 9th and 10th Congresses and the Batasang Pambansa.
After his wife's term, he ran for Cebu City 2nd District's Congressional seat. Since then, he led that area through the 12th and 13th congress.
On May 18, 2007, he was elected to a third term as Congressman of the 2nd District of Cebu City in the House of Representatives. His term ended on June 30, 2010, when Tomas Osmeña took his oath as his successor.
Cuenco ran for, and won a seat in the Cebu City Council during the 2019 elections placing 4th with 140,139 votes.

Death

On June 27, 2020, Cuenco died due to the effects of COVID-19 as confirmed by his son, former Cebu City Councilor James Anthony Cuenco. The younger Cuenco said that his father experienced "mild fever and incessant coughing” on June 18 which prompted them to conduct a swab test and later showed on June 20 that the elder Cuenco was positive from the said virus.