Rodolfo "Pong" Gaspar Biazon (Tagalog pronunciation: [ˈbjason], April 14, 1935 – June 12, 2023) was a Filipino politician and Philippine Marine Corps general.
He was the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in early 1991 and then served as a Senator from 1992 to 1995 and from 1998 to 2010.
In order to support his education, and at the same time look for ways to earn money, so he went to school in the morning and worked in the afternoon.
He stopped doing laundry and instead worked as a laborer in the then Highway 54 (now EDSA), this time to sustain his college education in FEATI where he took mechanical engineering.
He led the Marines and the officers and men of the AFP NCR Defense Command in foiling the coup attempt.
[2][3] Gen. Biazon was chosen to be the third Armed Forces Chief of Staff of the 5th Republic, after Fidel V. Ramos and Renato de Villa, and the first one to come from the ranks of the PMC in 1991.
After the loss, he ran again for Senator in 1998 under Laban ng Makabayang Masang Pilipino and won, resulting to a six-year term.
He was also the President of the Asian Regional Council Global Parliamentarians on Habitat, the Vice-President for Asia Global Parliamentarians on Habitat, the Co-chairperson of the Philippine Legislators' Committee on Population and Development Foundation, Inc. (PLCPD) and a member of the Commission on Appointments.
Biazon ran for re-election under the K4 administration coalition in 2004 and won, narrowly beating incumbent Senator Robert Barbers by a margin of 10,685 votes for the 12th place.
[dubious – discuss] Eight months after his graduation in the Philippine Military Academy, he eventually married Monserrat or "Monchie" as she is called on December 3, 1961.
[5] They had three children: Rita Rosanna (first runner-up at the Binibining Pilipinas 1985), Rino Rudiyardo, and Rozzano "Ruffy" Rufino (incumbent mayor of Muntinlupa).
[7][8] Biazon died on June 12, 2023, during the 125th Independence Day, at Asian Hospital and Medical Center in Alabang, Muntinlupa.