| Maria
Gracia Cielo Magno Padaca is the second of six children of
schoolteachers Bernardo and Amelia Padaca.
She had her humble
beginnings in her hometown of Naguilian, Isabela. Stricken
with polio at the age of three, she learned to cope and ultimately
developed a strong character and determination to succeed.
Despite her disability,
she was a consistent honor student and in 1984, graduated
Magna Cum Laude from the Lyceum University in Manila.
Although a Certified
Public Accountant (CPA), she was hired by Bombo Radyo in Cauayan
City, Isabela as an anchorwoman during the 1986 snap presidential
elections. This began her 14 year stint as “Bombo Grace”,
the radio commentator who stuck to her principles, was critical
yet fair, and more importantly – took up the causes
of the poor and the underserved.
In 2000, she resigned
from Bombo Radyo and took on a job at the Commission on Audit
(COA). A year later, she was urged to run for public office
but “lost” in the congressional seat. She took
her case to the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal
(HRET) where she lost by 48 votes. She then worked as an accountant
at the late Enrique Zobel’s Hacienda Bigaa in Calatagan,
Batangas.
In
2004, she once more tried her hand at politics and won the
highly contested gubernatorial post of Isabela. During the
May 14, 2007 elections, the electorate of Isabela reaffirmed
their trust and confidence in her governance by giving her
a second mandate as governor.
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