Jc de los Reyes Biography

Short autobiography by Jc de los Reyes, minor editing by JB

"I am forced to stay on in politics because awang awa na ako sa mga mahihirap. I also have to fight for my children's future. Justice demands that those who have been blessed with a good, comfortable life should do battle with a rotten, corrupt system, oppressive to God’s beloved children - the poor and the marginalized." 

                                                                                                                    -- Jc de los Reyes

BORN February 14, 1970, former Councilor and May 2010 presidential aspirant as John Carlo Gordon de los Reyes is married to Dunia Valenzuela with three children, Gabriel 10, Santiago 7 and Barbara 5. 

Jc de los Reyes studied in Ateneo de Manila for his elementary education, and graduated in De la Salle for high school. He finished his B.A. in Theology from the Franciscan University of Steubenville, reputed to be one of the most orthodox Catholic Universities in America. Late 1993 he taught Philosophy in the then Center for Research and Communication, now the University of Asia and the Pacific and was under the tutelage of Fr. Joseph de Torre, a Spanish priest of the Holy Cross who wrote extensively on the social teachings of the Church. In 1995, he ran and was elected City Councilor of Olongapo. 

During his term, he focused on the poor, the youth and cooperatives. In 1999 he finished his post-graduate studies in Public Administration from the University of the Philippines and proceeded to study law in Saint Louis University, Baguio City, finishing his degree in 2005. 

The organizations he helped propagate as an active member since 1995 was the National Renewal Movement and the Ang Kapatiran National Political Party or the Alliance for the Common Good, a registered political party that seeks to promote the politics of genuine social concern. Presently, he is national animator of Solidarity Philippines, a movement to pro-actively advance the Social Justice Agenda of the Church and Executive-director of Breaking the Yoke of Poverty Foundation whose project is Jubillee homes for the Poor, a housing project for 60 families. 

In the 2007 elections, among 27 local and national candidates, he was the lone winner of Ang Kapatiran Party, placing second among ten slots for the Olongapo City Council. This was achieved despite a decade absent from local politics. 

His free legal assistance program under an informal project named JUSTICE CRUSADE has been widely successful among his constituents. He is presently prioritizing the institutionalization of the Barangay Human Rights Action Centers, the office mandated by law for the protection and prevention of human rights violations in the barangay. 

Councilor JC has spoken out and campaigned against illegal drugs, rampant violations of worker’s rights at Hanjin, Subic Bay and has campaigned against illegal fish cages in the area. He has also led protests against the proposed coal power plant and has been outspoken in criticizing government’s plan to open more casinos in Subic. 

The boldest statement he has made for good governance is the filing of numerous cases before the Ombudsman against high ranking government officials where he himself is complainant. This is in line with his political policy of alleviating the people’s suffering by addressing the problem of expensive and increasing costs of basic needs like water, electricity, medicines, health care, etc., and insuring that these basic services are kept free and far from graft and corruption. 

His passion and vision is to unceasingly work to fight and defeat massive, enslaving poverty, a mission to be accomplished not only in Olongapo but in the whole country. 

___________

Sources:

De los Reyes, Jc. JC who? 1 August 2009. http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=128140575989

________. Servant-Mothers - Humble Nation-Builders by JC de los Reyes. http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=62509670989

***********