Portrait of a Warlord Part II:Romeo Garcia Jaslojos Sr.,Part 2

As the accusations of rape against Congressman Jalosjos' surfaced in mid-August of 1995 the predictable media frenzy began.By the time the charges were formally lodged the man who had boasted loudly about wanting his day in court was nowhere to be found.On December 26th,1995 NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) agents attempted to serve an arrest warrant at Jalosjos' unit in the Ritz Tower,the same Makati condominium where the accused was said to have repeatedly raped his 11 year old victim.However,by then Jalosjos was in the wind.New Year came and went amid rumors that the disgraced public servant had been holing up at his island resort off of the Zamboanga Peninsula in Mindanao.As NBI agents spent 2 weeks in small boats surrounding the tiny island Jalosjos was far away,in Batangas Province in Central Luzon.

It was in that province that Jalosjos was brought to heel in a scene easily lifted from a Holloywood set.Alerted by a local tipster the PPO (Provincial Police Office) placed the fugitive Congressnan under 24 hour surveillance.Surrounded by well armed gunmen Jalosjos wouldn't be a simple take down.Fearing a bloodbath then President Fidel Ramos ordered his own Presidential Security Group to take Jalosjos into custody.Until the creation of the AFP's (Armed Forces of the Philippines) LRC (Light Reaction Company) element in 2003 the PSG was the creme de la creme of the Philippine Security Apparatus.Tasked solely with guarding the President's life it had the added onus of protecting the Chief Executive from the perennial coup attempts that have tortured the nation since Marcos fell in 1986.

Not long after the PSG deployed on Janurary 17th,1996,Jalosjos alerted to their presence and hopped into a speedboat,gunmen around him,and made a beeline for an islet near the municipality of Bagac in Bataan Province.Giving chase in 3 speed boats of their own the PSG,personally led by their Deputy Commander,then Colonel Hermogenes"Gene"Esperon Jr.,who would go on to play a pivotal role in Philippine politics during the following decade.As the pursuing water craft gained on him Jalosjos made a sharp turn in desperation and ended up in a narrow inlet.The 3 PSG boats inched closer,Esperon in the centre craft,and averted bloodshed when Jalosjos,always thinking of himself,ordered his gunmen to lay down their weapons.

Transported to Makati City where his long reserved Cell,#14,in that city's jail,had been waiting for him since the warrant was sworn out.With the 2 charges of Statutory Rape being non-bailable offenses the forlorn Jalosjos settled in for the long haul.Indeed it was a long 11 months until December of 1997 when Regional Trial Court (RTC) #62 found him guilt on both counts of rape and 6 of 12 counts of Lasciviousness.

With Congressman Romeo Jaslojos' convictions came a sentence of Life.All things considered Jalosjos made out like a bandit since he had been facing the Death Penalty.It goes without saying that a good many people were outraged that a child rapist like Jalosjos could escape the Death Penalty while poor farmers found to have been growing 4 marijuana plants could be strapped to a gurney and executed.

Inmate #N98P-8748 was sent to the nation's largest prison,New Bilibid in Muntinulpa City on Luzon.Like all wealthy inmates his life wasn't that far removed from the standard he had enjoyed before entering the prison system.Inmates with money are allowed to apply for"Penal Colonist Status"which if given,allows the prisoner to live outside the prison walls,though still technically on prison property.Like many prisons in under-developed nations New Bilibid resembles a city more than a correctional institution.With 12,000 plus inmates the prison's administrators cannot really be blamed if they try to creatively lessen overcrowding,or so the story goes.

Outside the prison walls,in Barangay Katarungan,inmate Jalosjos began looking for a suitable homesite.Not satisfied he sought,and was allowed to buy a lot in a subdivision reserved for Bureau of Corrections and Judiciary personnel and their families.Finding just the right lot on M.Araullo Street the disgraced Congressman then had a roomy 3 room concrete bungalow constructed along with an adjacent tennis court.

Even though his bungalow was fully equipped with numerous amenities such as 2 telephone lines,a home theater and a stereo system Jalosjos still found himself getting bored.It was at this point that he constructed a restaurant,bar,bakery,coffee shoppe,sauna and spa on prison grounds and in the process becoming a favourite inmate to staff and prisoners alike.Though his wife and children had become Australian citizens in the 1980s Jalosjos was far from lonely since,even while incarcerated,he had managed to retain his Congressional seat in the 1998 and 2001 elections.

Still,by 2002 Jalosjos had exhausted his Legal Appeals and was then mandatorily stripped of his Congressional seat.It was at this point that Jalosjos buckled down trying to affect an Act of Clemency from his partymate,then President Gloria M.Arroyo.Arroyo,or"GMA"for short,was far from secure herself.Rising to power in a 2001 coup she,like all Presidents in the post-Marcos Era before her,was always subjected to coup attempts and impeachment proceedings.More to the point,partymate or not,she only became President 3 years into Jalosjos' prison sentence.Ergo he hadn't been able to earn any real favours before coming to prison.

The nearly two year period between 2002 and late 2003 must have been the worst for Jalosjos despite the luxuries afforded while in prison.With all Appeals finished and a President who only viewed Jalosjos as a liability if indeed she thought of him at all life must have seemed bleek indeed.In 2004 though things began to change.The year didn't start too grandly when Jalosjos passed out on the tennis court.Rushed to Makati General Hospital for what he thought was high bloodpressure Jalosjos found that he had actually suffered a mild stroke.As bad as that was the rest of the year might have been even worse if not for a stroke of fortuitous timing.An election was coming down the pike in 2004 and GMA knew that she had little if any hope of emerging victorious.Though she had been serving as Vice President when plucked from obscurity by the military who then dropped her in the palace she was an unknown quotient to most voters.Jalosjos sent word through the party apparattus that he could promise her 2 key provinces on Mindanao,Zamboanga del Norte and the adjacent,newly created Zamboanga Sibugay.What's more he also promised to call in all favours and otherwise apply the right pressure so as to produce a strong showing in the 3rd Zamboangan province,Zamboanga del Sur.It wasn't long before GMA allowed that it would be highly appreciated.In 2004 Jalosjos kept his word and delivered more than a 100,000 point lead for GMA allowing her to thrash her nearest challenger,Fernando Poe Jr.

Knowing that he would receive his payback towards the end of Ms.Arroyo's 6 year term Jalosjos busied himself with his business interests outside the prison and by strategising for an eventual political comeback.Though his 1995 SALN (Statement on Assets,Liabilities and Net Worth) pegged his holdings at P26MNillion (US475,000) he was actually raking in,by his own admission,at least P12 Million (US200,000) EVERY MONTH just in honorariums as the figurehead on several boards of directors.His interests inside New Bilibid Prison served to secure his safety and luxurious living conditions though he often bragged that it was pure altruism.For example,the aforementioned bakery,located within the walls of the maximum security complex of the prison provided jobs for impovershed inmates who would otherwise be left to their own devices.Philippine prisons,like most SE Asian jails do not provide even the most basic of foodstuffs.2 meals a day of a watery rice gruel and barely potable water led easily to malnutrition and illness.More over the profits of the bakery provided for educational scholarships to 50 children belonging to the most powerful gangleaders in the huge prison.

As the 2007 Election approached Jalosjos agreed to provide the President's Team Unity Ticket with the same victory given to the President in her 2004 Election.Though GMA wasn't in the running she badly needed allies in the Senate and so she looked towards Jalosjos to once again deliver.Deliver he did with a 7 to 5 ration that swept Team Unity past the competition.Following this last victory a grateful President Arroyo promised to favourably evaluate any request Jalosjos might make via the Bureau of Corrections Clemency Programme.Back dating her Decision to negate the predictable accusations of impropriety President Arroyo commuted Jalosjos' sentence from Life to a much more lenient 16 years,3 months and 3 days.With credit for his pre-trial incarceration in Makati City Jalosjos was nearly at the 11 year mark by that point.Still,there were ways in which to close that 5 year gap.

As noted earlier,in the Philippines inmates may apply for"Penal Colonist Status."Aside from being allowed outside prison walls it also grants an inmate from 5 to 15 days off for each month served.Since Jalosjos had already received the needed status he need only apply to the Bureau of Corrections for an applicable re-calculation of time served with those days off being taken into account.Applying to the Bureau's Director,Vicente Vinarao he received a favourable reply but was cautioned that no real action could be taken because Director Vinarao was about to retire.However he vowed to leave it as a priority task for his successor,Ricardo Dapat.

On December 15th,2007 newly installed Director Dapat signed an Order of Release for Jalosjos based upon his predecessor's calculation and forwarded it to New Bilibid's Superintendent,Juanito Leopando who began processing Jalosjos' release.On December 19th the Secretary of the Department of Justice,or DOJ,Raul Gonzalez found out about Jalosjos' imminent release and was enraged that he hadn't even been consulted.Truth be told that EVEN IF Gonzalez hadn't been an Arroyo appointee (meaning he certainly had no reason to be angry even if corners were bent),the DOJ has nothing to do with such calculations OR releases.Like the American system it is patterned after,once the courts end proceedings the inmate is fully in the custody of the Bureau of Corrections.It is entirely a decision of the Bureau.Still,livid as he was,Gonzalez did his best to stop the impending release,with no success.

On December 26th,2007 Jalosjos left New Bilibid and went immediately to Makati City's Domestic Airport where a private jet flew him to Dapitan City,in his home province of Zamboanga del Norte.Spending a few hours with his brother Dominador Garcia Jalosjos Jr.,the city's Mayor,he discovered that Secretary Gonzalez had gotten into a pissing contest with Director Leopando and had just that morning pulled rank by swearing out an arrest warrant on Jalosjos charging him with ESCAPE.After conferring with his attorneys Jalosjos re-boarded the plane and flew to nearby Zamboanga City where he voluntarily surrendered himself at the San Ramon Penal Farm,a Bureau of Corrections facility on his home turf.The decision to do so was a way in which to circumvent Gonzalez who aimed to have the NBI arrest Jalosjos and transport him back to Luzon for re-internment at New Bilibid.Since San Ramon is in his home province,Jalosjos' power base,he would be able to come and go as he pleased,leaving him an inmate on paper only.Perhaps just as importantly though,it allowed Jalosjos to cast doubt upon allegations of Escape.After all,he had purposefully flown to Zamboanga City just to surrender.

On January 1st,2008 Secretary Gonzalez lashed out again by claiming he was negating all time off,an act outside his powers of authority.Meanwhile Jalosjos filed a Writ of Habeus Corpus over the re-arrest order/warrant authored by Gonzalez.The Writ was quickly denied because Jalosjos was still a sentenced prisoner and as such ineligible for a Writ if in the custody of the Bureau of Corrections.On January 4th,2008 Jalosjos decided to cut to the chase and voluntarily agreed to leave San Ramon and return to New Bilibid.In the end he returned to Luzon just as had left it,in his private jet and of his own accord.

The rest of the year was spent in planning,strategising over a political comeback.Very quickly Jalosjos cast himself aside realising that his convictions would only serve to distract voters though he did test the waters after his release by officially conferring with the electoral authority,COMELEC.As he had predicted COMELEC told him immediately that unless he received a Full Pardon erasing his conviction he was judged tainted by Moral Turpitude. Instead Jalosjos decided to have his children run in the synchronised National/Local Elections in 2010.By June of 2008 he had decided to have his son Romeo Jr.,or"Jon Jon,"take a huge leap and run for Congress.In the 2007 Elections Jalosjos had set the stage by directing Jon Jon to take his first step into politics with a run on the mayoralty of Tampilisan,a small municipality in his home province of Zamboanga del Norte.Emerging victorious in that initial foray Jon Jon had taken to politics like a fish to water.Still,there is a world of difference between serving as the Mayor of a rural burg in the midst of a province controlled by one's clan and serving in Congress in in the dog eat dog world of Manila.

How much more difficult would it be if that Congressional race were outside the clan stronghold of Zamboanga del Norte?Jalosjos had always thought big but it had been a long time since he had operated outside of his comfort zone.In 2010 the ex-Congressman decided to think REALLY big.With 2 of Zamboanga del Norte's 3 Congressional Districts controlled by members of his immediate family Jalosjos decided to cross provincial lines.Of the 2 remaining provvinces on the Zamboanga Peninsula,Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga Sibugay,it was Sibugay that was the more vulnerable.

Created only in 2001 Sibugay is still in its infancy.Dominated by the Hofer Clan,whose patriarch George T.Hofer Sr.was single handedly responsible for its creation.The movement to create a third province on the peninsula actuaLly began in the mid-1960s when the people of Zamboanga del Sur began expressing frustration over the lack of progress outside of Zamboanga del Norte,the original province that had covered the entire peninsula.The conventional wisdom held that in creating a new province it would be easier to build up both Zamboanga del Sur and the new province whose partisans believed should be named,"Zamboanga Occidental."Congressman Vincenzo Sagun introduced the first Bill to create the envisioned third province,HB #17574.However this Bill and subsequent Bills after it (HB #8546 by Rep.Belma Cabilao,HB #341 by Rep.Vicente M.Cerilles,etc.) were all tossed into the waste-paper basket.It wasn't until 1993 that the movement managed to gain momentum.Known as the Zamboanga Occidental Movement the 3rd District of Zamboanga del Sur managed to gain almost universal support in its home District,Zamboanga del Sur's Third.In 1997 an un-official referendum was held during that year's Barangay Elections.The result was a landslide in support of the newly re-popularised initiative.

In 2000 3rd District Congressman,the aforementioned George T.Hofer Sr.,introduced HB #1311 with an important variation;Instead of labeling the desired province"Zamboanga Occidental,"Hofer named it,"Zamboanga Sibugay."This was a very important innovation because it allowed the many politicians who publicly vowed never to support the creation of"Zamboanga Occidental"to smoothly slide in behind this"new"intiative that clearly enjoyed thorough support on the ground.On February 24th,2001 then President Joseph"ERAP"Estrada signed RA (Republic Act) #8973 into Law and formally created Zamboanga Sibugay.Representative Hofer became the province's first,and until 2010,only Governor.

Aside from the province being a mere 9 years old and it containing mostly inexperienced politicians,the 2010 Elections were forcing Hofer out of office.Having reached his mandatory 9 year term limit Hofer set his sights on the mayoralty of the provincial capitol,Ipil.As is so often the case he regally ordained a close family member to keep the Governor's seat warm.Daughter Dulce Ann Hofer had been serving as Congresswoman representing the province's 2nd District.Soon to be ex-Governor Hofer designated his son George Jethro"Jet"K.Hofer to fill that Congressional seat,having heretofore served as Sibugay's Provincial Administrator under his father.I can imagine any foreigners reading this convoluted explanation might be rolling their eyes right now.The sad thing though is that this sort of political"Musical Chairs"is all too common in the Philippines where nepotism is to be applauded and admired.

Ironically perhaps,the Hofers and the Jalojoses had been obstensibly allied since the Hofer's"Laki"party had allied with the Jalosjoses"KAMPI"way back in 1998.Though Jalosjos positioned his children within KAMPI he was already building an alternative apparatus that he labeled,"Aggrupation of Political Parties,"or APP,to be launched AFTER securing positions in the 2010 Election.Having utilised the considerable Lakas-KAMPI-CMD (CMD being the"Christian Muslim Democrats,"a party that had likned with Lakas in 1991) to get his ticket to a wider audience.Internally though,by the time the Election Season began in September of 2009 the Jalosjos Clan had burned most bridges with Lakas-KAMPI-CMD.As the race picked up momentum all bets were off and Jalosjos didn't care who knew about the internal strife within the party.

As Hofer began using a popular radio station he owned to disparage Jalosjos.Labeling Jalosjos as the baby piddler he is things turned violent.On April 5th,2010 in the Hofer's hometown of Titay in Zamboanga Sibugay a man on a motorcycle slowy drove past the aforementioned radio station.Located in Sitio African Daisy in Barangay Catibog the 1 story building was absolutely covered in Hofer campaign materiel.More over,even the large aluminum support structures for the station's attenae were also covered in posters supported by 2 X 4 boards.Ergo when the motorcycle riding attacker threw a fragmentation grenade inside the station's compound the explosive hit one of those 2 X 4s and rolled back towards the entrance of the car park.While the building housing the station,103.5"Magic FM"was unscathed the same cannot be said of an innocent bystander.The poor woman was critically wounded by shrapnel.

On April 8th the Lakas-KAMPI-CMD mayoralty candidate for Titay,George Castillo,was himself subjected to a grenade attack.Again disaster was averted when the hapless attacker failed to clear the waist high block wall around Castillo's home in Barangay Poblacion.

That same evening,April 8th,Lakas-KAMPI-CMD was holding a rally in the barangay hall of Barangay San Antonio in the town of Kabasalan in that same province of Zamboanga Sibugay when 4 men riding tandem on 2 motorcycles roared by and threw a hand grenade.Sadly this one was successful,critically wounding 4 bystanders:

1) Ernesto Casil,age 36

2) Steffanie Cabasin,age 12

3) Jose Cabasin,her 8 year old brother

4) Rosie Binauro,age 14.

Minutes later on that same night a grenade was thrown at a PNP (Philippine National Police) officer's home in Kabasalan's Barangay Poblacion critically wounding 3 passers by.

For the sake of brevity I will desist from listing the rest of the violent attacks if only because I catalouged them extremely explicitly in my entry on the 2010 Campaign and Election Related Violence in the Zamboanga Peninsula.

While Jalosjos licked his lips over Zamboanga Sibugay he also moved to expand into a third province,Misamis Occidental.Daughter Sveltana"Lanah"Jalosjos had never desired a political career.Instead the young lady with an artistic bent kept herself busy running one of the family's numerous businesses,the"Fantasyland"amusement park in the family stronghold of Dapitan City.In pushing into Misamis Jalosjos decided,true to form,to go right for the jugular by neutralising that province's pre-eminent political dynasty,the Yap Family.In going against the Yap's Jalosjos aimed to lop off their head in of all places,the Yap hometown of Baliango.Capitalising on Yap inner strife Jalosjos built solid alliances with "Jojo"Yap to undermine town mayor Agne [sic] Yap.On Election Day Sveltana ended up winning by a mere 6 votes.

Son Romeo"Jon Jon" M.Jalosjos,whom I discussed earlier in this entry,had been groomed by his father who directed him to run in the 2007 Election for Mayor of Tampilisan,a tiny town in the clan stronghold of Zamboanga del Norte Province.An easy win under his belt Jr.was now told to run for Dulce Ann Hofer's seat in the 2nd Congressional District of Zamboanga Sibugay,though the race would be against Dulce Ann's brother Jet.For all of Jalosjos' strategising he failed to take into account an extremely simple issue: RESIDENCY.The Local Government Code of 1991 requires that all candidates reside in the municipality or province they plan to run for,for at least 12 months prior to the election.In filing a Certificate of Candidacy for Sibugay Jr.created a huge problem,one that would become even more complicated as time passed.

Jalosjos ordered son Rommel A.Jalosjos to run in the Sibugay gubneratorial race against Dulce Ann,who as noted earlier,sought the position held by her father,family patriatch George Sr.

Jalosjos brother Dominador Garcia Jalosjos Jr.was running to retain his positionas mayor in the family baliwick of Dapitan City in Zamboanga del Norte Province.

Their sister Cecilia Garcia Jalsjos Carreon was running to retain Jalosjos' old position as Congressman of Zamboanga del Norte,a position she won at the behest of Jalosjos himself.

On Election Day,May 10th,2010,all 5 of the Jalosjos candidates won their respective races.All the Hofers,including patriarch George Sr.,lost in spectacular fashion.Even before Election Day arrived detractors and opponents had filed petitions with COMELEC,the electoral authority.In the provincial capitol of Ipil,Dan Erasmo Sr.,a Barangay Chairman/Captain in Barangay Veteran's Village filed Petitions seeking to disqualify Jalosjos' sons Rommel and Romeo Jr.Both claimed on their respective Certificates of Candidacy that they had resided in Barangay Veteran's Village.Erasmo stated that he hadn't seen either one,ever.

Also an issue was Rommel's citizenship.In 1981 he and his mother had moved to Australia where both soon became citizens.At the time the Philippines forbade dual citizenship and so by taking Australian citizenship Rommel negated his Philippine citizenship.In the end COMELEC ruled that Rommel was not disqualified over citizenship because 4 days after arriving in the Philippines in November of 2008 he had taken advantage of the dual citizenship statute which had been enacted in the long interim,re-taking his formal vow.However Rommel had no such luck with regard to the main accusation,Residency.COMELEC's 2nd Division Ruled him ineligible.Rommel in turn filed a Petition with the Supreme Court seeking to nullify that decision.As Rommel did tis he was declared the winner with 121,441 votes versus Dulce Ann Hofer's 107,276.After taking his Oath of Office Rommel claimed that any issues surrounding his Residency are outside of COMELEC's mandate which deals only with the electoral process.Instead he says,it should be up to Congress as to whether or not he is in fact disqualified since he was no longer a candidate but a sitting Congressman.Arrogant bar none.

On Sveltana's victory against Agne Yap,by a mere 6 votes,COMELEC likwise disqualified her over Residency following a Petition filed by Yap himself.As of posting,June 17th,2011 all 3 Jalosjos children have managed to retain their seats as the Supreme Court and COMELEC continue to battle it out.

In a somewhat interesting turn of events their uncle,Dominador Garcia Jalosjos Jr.,brother of our anti-hero,child rapist Romeo Jalosjos Sr.,incumbent Mayor of Dapitan City won re-election.However an ally of the Hofers has filed a Petition with COMELEC seeking to disqualify him as well.Why?Moral Turpitude,revolving around Dominador's 1986 conviction for Armed Robbery.Great family,just beautiful.