About Jun Policarpio

Gonzalo M. Policarpio, Jr., better known to his friends as Jun Policarpio, has been a resident of New York, in the County of Queens, since November 23, 1973 when he arrived from Manila, Philippines as an immigrant with outstanding qualifications.  He now lives with his wife and three of his seven children at Douglas Manor in Douglaston, Queens.

As a newly arrived immigrant from a third-world country, he experienced the hardships and struggles inherent in the need to adjust to a much different environment and social life.  He found himself to be surviving in a very competitive microcosm of a world where divergent cultures from almost all countries meet and refuse to mix in most cases.  Without pre-arranged employment, he had to grab the most available decent job offers which were not commensurate to his extraordinary qualities and special skills.  He had to work as an antique salesman, a life insurance agent, a security guard, and a store detective.

He previously worked for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service as an Officer in the Adjudications Branch of the New York District Office.  He previously served as an Immigration Inspector, Special Operations, at the I.N.S. Newark District before he transferred to New York in 1995. 

Gonzalo "Jun" Policarpio, a former officer of the Department of Homeland Security's Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services and a resident of Douglas Manor, New York, officially announced his candidacy for Congress '08 to represent the 5th Congressional District of New York on Wednesday, June 18, at the monthly meeting of the Northeast Queens Republican Club.

Prior to his arrival in the United States, equipped with a Bachelor of Science degree in Foreign Service and Graduate Studies in Public Administration from the University of the Philippines, he served as an Assistant at the Philippine Department of Foreign Affair's Division of Intelligence and Research.  In 1971, he was sent to the Philippine Armed Forces Special Intelligence Training School to be trained as an Intelligence Officer.  After his graduation,  he went back to work and assume the duties and responsibilities of an Intelligence Analyst.  He represented the department's Chief of Intelligence at the regular editorial  board  meetings of the National Intelligence Board that prepared the daily intelligence briefs to the President.  He also uncovered on the side, corrupt and illegal practices involving high government officials in the issuance of fraudulent citizenship documents to illegal aliens in exchange for large sums of money.  Bypassing his newly-assigned superior officer who refused to accept his Memorandum,  he personally handed his intelligence report to the late General Carlos P. Romulo, then the foreign affairs secretary to President Marcos.  Romulo promptly ordered an internal investigation that led to the revocation of Philippine passports issued to fake Filipinos and their families.  But Romulo suffered a serious vehicular accident that landed him to the hospital for several weeks.  The official who took over Romulo's position immediately reassigned Policarpio to another office where he was restricted to pursue his inquiry into other cases.   And when Marcos declared Martial Law in the following year, the foreign affairs department terminated Policarpio's services without cause.  

So Jun Policarpio tried to teach full-time at the School of Foreign Service of the University of Manila.  Perhaps as a form of retaliation for his government expose which was well publicized in the  Philippine media prior to martial law,  Policarpio was not allowed to handle political science courses that adversely affected his finances.

While in New York, despite the modest incomes he received from the casual employment he accepted upon his entry,  Jun Policarpio was able to save some money that enabled him to bring his wife and eventually his children to Queens, NY.  In 1979 he was sworn in as a new American citizen at the Eastern District Court in Brooklyn after a brief interview at the Brooklyn Office of Citizenship.  In 1980 he obtained his Master of Public Administration degree from New York University.  It is significant to note at this juncture that in 1998, he served as Supervisor/Officer-in-charge for three months of the Brooklyn Citizenship Office where he was examined for naturalization.  He also became a Supervisor at the Garden City Office of Citizenship for one year.  It  symbolizes that America indeed is a land of opportunity to all if persistently claimed.

Jun Policarpio left the Philippines and migrated to the United States with a firm belief that here in our beloved country, he will find a home for the free and a land for the brave where there is "one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."  Yet as he struggled to get his public management career in full gear, he was surprised to encounter the bumps of racial and ethnic origin discrimination in employment.

Where most would prefer to keep quiet and swallow one's pride and dignity for fear of losing the fight, Policarpio opted to use the many good laws passed by Congress to protect the people's civil and human rights.   For he truly believes that in the United States, there exists a government of law, not of men where justice prevails when vigorously pursued.