Sonny Melencio is a veteran Filipino socialist activist and labor leader who has been a prominent figure in the Philippine Left since the 1970s. His career as an activist began in high school, leading him to join various organizations, including the Kabataang Makabayan (KM) and the Samahang Demokratiko ng Kabataan (SDK). During the declaration of Martial Law, he and fellow activists were forced to go underground, a period during which he was captured, tortured, but eventually managed to escape from military officers when he was 22 years old. After the Martial Law era, he became a founder of several influential organizations, including the mass movement Sanlakas, the labor center Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), and the political party Partido ng Manggagawa (PM).

Melencio is the founder of the Socialist Party of the Philippines (SPP) and the multi-sectoral alliance Laban ng Masa (LNM), and he currently serves as the Chairperson of the democratic socialist political party, Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM), which served as the political vehicle for labor leader Leody de Guzman’s presidential bid in 2022. In addition to his political organizing, Melencio is an author, having written the semi-biographical book, Full Quarter Storms: Memoirs and Writings on the Philippine Left (1970–2012). He also occasionally enjoys teaching and performing magic tricks as hobbies. While specific details on his formal education or immediate family are not widely public, his activism and political commentary on issues like US-China tensions, imperialist trade deals, and class struggle in the Philippines are documented through his writings and interviews.

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See also: List of Bar Topnotchers in the Philippines since 1903