De los Reyes keeps fighting spirit alive

MANILA, Philippines - Poor ratings in pre-election surveys do not dampen senatorial candidate John Carlos “JC” Gordon de los Reyes’ faith that he will succeed in his second attempt to land a national elective post.

De los Reyes, 43, said he decided to run for senator to pursue the platform and principles of Ang Kapatiran Party, of which he is president.

“My conscience bugs me. My faith prompts me to lend my face, my tongue, all that I am to embody reforms, renewal and justice for the sake of our poor kababayans,” De los Reyes said when asked why he decided to run again for public office despite losing the 2010 presidential race.

He said he felt “bad” about his low ratings in pre-election polls.

“But unlike other candidates who use this as ego supplements, my being in the bottom has a reason, we have chosen to offer our people sublime politics, the politics of virtue, conscience and duty, the opposite of which is big-money politics and immoral compromises,” he said.

“Unlike the trapos (traditional politicians) who are media-driven and feed on the popularity contest, we simply say our message as unrelentingly and as passionately as we can regardless of survey results,” he said.

In the February 2013 survey of Pulse Asia, De los Reyes was ranked 25th to 29th places with a score of 4.2 percent.

He was also out of the Senate winning circle in the Social Weather Stations’ February 2013 survey, receiving four percent of the votes of 1,200 survey respondents.

De los Reyes also said he is not discouraged by people who advised him not to run because of his slim chances of winning.

“To me they are inconsequential and irrelevant as far as my mission in this world is concerned. The ones that matter are God, those who believe and the innocent and the oppressed who are the very reasons why I am here in the first place,” he said.

De los Reyes is confident he will receive again the support of Church leaders.

Six Catholic bishops declared support for De los Reyes, an outspoken critic of the controversial Reproductive Health bill, in the May 2010 presidential elections.

Born on Feb. 14, 1970, De los Reyes is married to Dunia Valenzuela. They have four children: Gabriel, 14, Santiago, 12, Barbara, 10, and Juliana, 1.

He is the nephew of fellow senatorial candidate Richard Gordon.

De los Reyes owns the Legobrick Systems and Designs, Barbara’s Foods, Inc., RJ Marine Allied and General Services, a shipping company.

He is currently president of the Intramuros Tourism Council.

He finished his elementary education at the Ateneo de Manila University and high school at De La Salle in Greenhills, San Juan City.

De los Reyes graduated from the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio with a degree in Theology.

In 1999, he finished his graduate studies in Public Administration at the University of the Philippines and has a law degree from Saint Louis University in Baguio City.

In 1995, he ran and was elected city councilor of Olongapo.