AT A GLANCE
Congressman Lordan Suan is among the few Mindanaoans who are part of the public prosecution panel in the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.
He comes from an island where loyalty to the Duterte family remains strong, but this fact doesn’t deter the Cagayan de Oro 1st District lawmaker.
“My being a Mindanaoan is precisely why I take this duty very seriously. Because we’re not just talking about the people’s money, we’re also talking about the taxes that Mindanaoans are paying,” Suan said during the first press briefing of trial prosecutors in May.
“No region, wherever it is — Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao — no family, no officials should be elevated above the Constitution or even above the investigations of the Commission on Audit,” he added.
The articles of impeachment assigned to him are those related to allegations that Duterte misused her confidential funds worth P612.5 million, and amassed unexplained wealth from the time she entered public service as Davao City vice mayor, until she became vice president.
The 43-year-old CDO native is the son of free mason Agapito Suan Jr. and businesswoman-broadcaster Girlie Gualberto-Suan. His brother, Aga Suan, is a Cagayan de Oro councilor.
Congressman Suan obtained his undergraduate and law degrees from Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan. His LinkedIn profile says he is a member of the fraternity Scintilla Legis.
Before entering public service, he had been chief executive officer of out-of-home media and billboard company Ultracraft Advertising Corporation. His family is also said to own Ultracraft Broadcasting Corporation, the company that operated DXRU Radio Ultra, now called Gold Radio.
Suan entered politics in 2016, successfully securing a seat in the Cagayan de Oro City council. He served two terms, then ran for congressman in 2022.
Suan won that race with a single-digit percentage-point margin against Joaquin Uy, son of then-term-limited congressman Rolando Uy.
In the 19th Congress, Suan became one of the members of the Young Guns, a House bloc led by the President’s son, Sandro Marcos, and who, at the time, were public talking heads supportive of the leadership of then-speaker Martin Romualdez. He was also an active member of the quad committee, which investigated the controversies that hounded the Rodrigo Duterte presidency, from gambling operators to his drug war.
In 2025, Suan sought a second term, winning in his rematch against the younger Uy, although it was a razor-thin race that ultimately came down to just 3,000-plus votes over Uy.
The Mindanaoan prides himself as an advocate of education, infrastructure development, and social welfare. Today, he serves as chairman of the House public information committee, tasking him to defend the freedom of information bill and the highly criticized anti-disinformation measure on the plenary floor.
In May, he emphasized the dangers posed by disinformation in the impeachment process involving Duterte.
“Our biggest challenge in this impeachment process is really ‘fake news.’ Because we’re talking about accountability here, and accountability does not respect regional bias. The truth should prevail, and hopefully everyone can come together and decide whether what we’re sharing is actually news or ‘fake news,'” he said. – Rappler.com
Patricia Fontilar is a journalism student at the University of the Philippines Diliman and the managing editor of Tinig ng Plaridel, the official student publication of the UP College of Media and Communication. She is a Rappler intern.
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