Francisco "Kit" Sarmiento Tatad (born October 4, 1939) is a Filipino journalist and politician best known for having served as Minister of Public Information under President Ferdinand Marcos from 1969 to 1980, and for serving as a Senator of the Philippines from 1992 to 2001. Upon his appointment by President Marcos, Tatad became the youngest member of Marcos' cabinet. During his term, he announced the declaration of Martial Law on September 23, 1972, just hours before Marcos himself came on the air. While serving as cabinet secretary, he concurrently became a member of the Batasang Pambansa. During his service in the Philippines Senate, he served as Majority Floor Leader from 1996 to 1998 and again from 2000 to 2001. Another historical moment in Tatad's career came in 2001, when he was one of the 11 senators who voted against opening an envelope that had been alleged to contain incriminating evidence against then Philippine President Joseph Ejercito Estrada, inciting events that led to the EDSA Revolution of 2001. Early life and education Tatad was born on October 4, 1939, in Gigmoto, Catanduanes. He attended Gigmoto Elementary School. His family later moved to Manila where he finished his secondary education at the Roosevelt College in Cubao, Quezon City. He attended college at the University of Santo Tomas where he studied philosophy. As a Thomasian, he was the literary editor of The Varsitarian in 1960. One of his short stories was published in a Hong Kong-based Asian magazine. He was barred from finishing his degree after organizing an unapproved symposium in the university. After being prohibited from finishing Philosophy, he studied Business Economics at the Center for Research and Communication (now University of Asia and the Pacific). Career Journalistic career After finishing his tertiary education, Tatad worked as a journalist and columnist for various agencies. In the 1960s, he was a correspondent for the Agence France-Presse and columnist and reporter at the Manila Daily Bulletin. He was also a writer for the International Herald Tribune, The Wall Street Journal Asia, the Far Eastern Economic Review, the Washington Quarterly, Business Day and the Philippine Daily Globe. From 1989 to 1991, he was the publisher and editor of Newsday, a business and political daily newspaper. Apart from being a journalist, Tatad is also the author of five books, namely, The Prospects of the Filipino, The Philippines in 1986, Guarding the Public Trust, A Nation on