Atty. Jaime “Jun” Lopoz Jr, former Ombudsman graft investigation officer and prosecutor, formally declared at the recent before a group of barangay leaders in Montevista that he is running as “he is just kursunada (gutsy)” to give Boardmember Maricar Zamora-Apsay “a good fight than give the honored congressman’s position to her with us just sitting down…as mute onlookers staring the father handing the crown jewel to his daughter”.
The congressional bid of Apsay, daughter of outgoing Congressman Manuel “Way Kurat” Zamora, was earlier threatened by Vice Gov. Ramil Gentugay, a Lakas-Kampi-CMD partymate, but the latter backed out citing it would be divisive and would disrupt the unity of political leaders in the province under provincial aggrupation Uswag Comval led by Gov. Arturo “Chiongkee” Uy.
But Atty. Lopoz said: “We need to give meaning to election, which is about giving our people the freedom to elect the representative they want in Congress. Without choices, we deny the right of the people to choose and elect their leaders, and we lose just as we’ll just be content of what a few have chosen to arrogate in power.”
On the heels of the lawyer’s declaration the other week, already a few barangay captains in New Bataan town have reportedly expressed they are open to make their barangays “free zones” and allow barangay people decide for their own in the coming elections.
“We need a change now. Although I have been a loyal supporter of Way Kurat, I don’t want to put pressure to my barangay people whom to vote for in 2010. Way Kurat has has no longer power after the 2010 election. Maricar and Jun are just the same- they’re both newcomers to the position, Way Kurat and Maricar are two different persons,” said a barangay captain who did not want to be identified.
The Lopoz camp also claimed that some barangay leaders in Monkayo have already launched a “peso-peso para kang Atty. Lopoz” campaign to give the lawyer “support from the masses”. “This is just for a start,” said Romelito Juson, a Lopoz volunteer.
Atty. Jun, the eldest brother of Boardmember Atty. Dexter Lopoz, has been in private lawyering practice for over ten years now following his stint as graft investigation officer and prosecutor of the Office of the Ombudsman for Mindanao for five years.
While he studied law at Ateneo de Davao University Law School as working student, he taught as college professor at Ateneo de Davao University and at Davao Doctors College for ten years.
He passed, first taker, the Bar exams in 1996, thus subsequently encouraging his younger brothers to also study law, now Atty. Dexter, who topped second placer of 2000 Bar exams and Atty. Rex Lopoz, who passed, first taker, in 2006.
In his college Atty. Jun was a scholar and a popular student leader who was elected for two straight terms as president of the Supreme Student Council of MSU-IIT in Iligan City.
He had also become the Mindanao chairman of the League of Filipino Students (LFS), and had been a labor union organizer and community organizer before he decided to study law at AdDU. (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News)
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