Senator Edgardo J. Angara, the longest serving senator in the post-EDSA Senate, began his political career when he was elected as one of the youngest delegates to the 1971 Constitutional Convention. A year later he founded what would become one of the country's top law firms known by the acronym ACCRA. Honing his skills while practicing, Angara was eventually elected as president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) in 1979, an indication of his rise to prominence in the legal profession.

In recognition of his internationalist views and pragmatism, he was chosen in 1981 as founding president of the ASEAN Law Association, an organization that seeks to harmonize laws in the ASEAN and promote a common focus on key issues and policies.