John Castriciones
John Castriciones | |
|---|---|
Castriciones in 2018 | |
| 14th Secretary of Agrarian Reform | |
| In office December 1, 2017 – October 8, 2021 | |
| President | Rodrigo Duterte |
| Preceded by | Rosalina Bistoyong (OIC) |
| Succeeded by | Bernie Cruz (acting) |
| Undersecretary for Operations of the Department of the Interior and Local Government | |
| In office July 1, 2016 – November 30, 2017 | |
| President | Rodrigo Duterte |
| Preceded by | Rafael Santos |
| Succeeded by | Epimaco V. Densing III |
| Personal details | |
| Born | John Rualo Castriciones January 8, 1962 Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines |
| Political party | PDP–Laban (2016–2018, 2021–present) |
| Other political affiliations | PFP (2018–2021) |
| Alma mater | Trinity University of Asia (AB) Philippine Military Academy San Beda University Arellano University (LL.B) University of Notre Dame (LL.M) |
| Profession | Lawyer, professor |
John Rualo Castriciones (born January 8, 1962), also known by the nickname Bro. John, is a Filipino lawyer and writer who served as the Secretary of Agrarian Reform under the Duterte administration from 2017 to 2021. He was formerly Undersecretary for Operations of the Department of the Interior and Local Government from 2016 to 2017. A member of the Philippine Military Academy "Maharlika" class of 1984, Castriciones also served in various capacities under two previous administrations and as a law school professor at his alma mater Arellano University. His appointment to the Agrarian Reform portfolio was approved by the Commission on Appointments on May 29, 2018, after being bypassed earlier by the commission on March 14, 2018, and reappointed by Duterte on March 22, 2018. Castriciones founded the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas together with the Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte-National Executive Coordinating Committee (MRRD-NECC).
Castriciones is a native of the province of Nueva Vizcaya. He was born on January 8, 1962, to a family of farmers in the municipality of Bayombong. As a young cadet-student at the Philippine Military Academy during Martial law under Ferdinand Marcos, Castriciones was accused in the 1981 hazing death of fellow cadet Andres Ramos and was sentenced to five years of hard labor by a seven-man military court in July 1982. He was pardoned four year later by the then newly installed President Corazon Aquino.
Castriciones then enrolled at the Trinity University of Asia in Quezon City, formerly Trinity College, and graduated magna cum laude with a political science degree. He went on to attend San Beda University, former San Beda College, and Arellano University to pursue legal studies where he was consistently in the Dean's List. Castriciones passed the Philippine Bar Examination in 1990. He later earned an LLM degree in Comparative Government and International Law from Notre Dame Law School in London, U.K. in 1998.
Castriciones completed his military training at the Philippine Military Academy in 1994 as part of the Maharlika Class.