Orlando Sanchez Mercado, better known as Orly Mercado, is a Filipinopolitician and radio broadcaster. He was a senator of the Philippines for two terms and the head and anchor of the popular radio program Radyo Patrol of ABS-CBN from 1969 to 1971 as well as the field reporter for pre-Martial Law days in The World Tonight. Upon Marcos' Proclamation No. 1081 in 1972, Orly was charged for subversion under Republic Act 1700 and was detained in Fort Bonifacio then his release after nine and a half months in detention, he returned to broadcasting and started teaching. Since 1975 Mercado has been the current producer and host of GMA Network's Kapwa Ko Mahal Ko, the pioneer television program in public service in the Philippines. In 1998, he was appointed Secretary of National Defense by President Joseph Estrada. On January 19, 2001, the Chief of Staff and all of the commanding generals of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, together with the rest of the military establishment, withdrew their support for President Estrada who was then facing impeachment for plunder and corruption. Their appearance before a throng of protesters at the EDSA Shrine was the culmination of what was to be known as EDSA People Power II, which ousted President Estrada from office. Mercado was reappointed Secretary of Defense by incoming President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo but resigned the post in protest of the designation of a former Chief of Staff as National Security Adviser who was also the subject of Mercado's anti-corruption campaign in the Department of National Defense. In 2008 Gloria Macapagal Arroyo nominated Mercado as Philippine ambassador to the China, also accredited to North Korea and Mongolia, however his nomination was objected to by Senator Jinggoy Estrada, then a member of the Commission on Appointments. In 2009 he was appointed as the first permanent representative of the Philippines to ASEAN, a newly created ambassadorial post that then did not require Commission on Appointments approval. He is currently the Secretary-General of the Eastern Regional Organization for Public Administration, an organization of states, groups and individuals in the general area of Asia and the Pacific. He has taught courses in Public Administration and Communication in the University of the Philippines where he obtained all his degrees: Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Master of Arts in Communication, and Doctor of Philosophy in Political Science. He is also a faculty member at the Ateneo de Manila University School of Government. On June 17, 2013, he returned to radio broadcasting with his program "Orly Mercado: All Ready" on Radyo Singko 92.3 NewsFM. His wife, Dr. Susan Pineda-Mercado, former Kapwa Ko Mahal Ko medical director and highest-ranking Filipina in the World Health Organization, was named by the government of the Philippines in 2018. She is the for WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific, a post which will be elected in the Sixty-ninth session of the Regional Committee for the Western Pacific, 8–12 October in Manila, Philippines.
An Act promoting voluntary blood donation, providing for an adequate supply of safe blood, regulating blood banks, providing penalties for violations thereof
Led efforts in the Committee of Permanent Representatives to introduce transparency and accountability in the ASEAN Secretariat by way of extensive budget hearings.
Initiated ASEAN's strategic communication plan, which could create a level of awareness and understanding about the regional organization as an imperative in the effort to create an ASEAN Community by 2015.
