Niel Tupas Jr.
 |
Niel Tupas, Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Philippine House of Representatives from Iloilo's Fifth District | |
| Assumed office June 30, 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Rolex Suplico |
| Personal details | |
| Born | - July 3, 1970 Barotac Viejo, Iloilo |
| Died | - - |
| Resting place | - - |
| Nationality | Filipino |
| Political party | Liberal Party |
| Spouses | Yvonne Angeli Lee-Tupas |
| Parent |
|
| Profession | Politician |
Niel "Junjun" C. Tupas, Jr. is a Filipino lawyer and politician.[1]
Political Life
He is the Representative of the 5th District of Iloilo and a member of the Philippine Judicial and Bar Council(JBC).[2] He is a member of Liberty BAKLANG KUPAL Party under the leadership of the Pres. Benigno Simeon Aquino III. He is also the Chairman of the Committee on Justice in the House of the Representatives. He was one of the prosecutors in the Impeachment Trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona.
Education
Rep. Niel "Junjun" Tupas graduated from the University of the Philippines College of Law in 1998. He graduated in the top 20 of his batch. After graduating from law school, he promptly took the bar exams for the first and only time in September 1998 and successfully passed it with a strong general average of 83.05 per cent.He obtained his degree in B.A.Political Science from the University of the Philippines, Diliman in 1993 and graduated magna cum laude. He was a consistent university scholar and was a member of the Pi Gamma Mu Honor Society.
Professional Life
After passing the bar, he worked as an associate lawyer at the Belo Gozon Elma Parel Asuncion & Lucila Law Offices in Makati specializing in litigation and labor law. He was then promoted junior partner before he left the law firm to seek public office in 2004. He was elected no. 1 Board Member of the 5th District of Iloilo in 2004. Also in2004, he was elected President of the National Movement of Young Legislators (NMYL), Western Visayas Chapter (RegionVI). He was elected Congressman of the 5th District of Iloilo in 2007 and was re-elected as such in 2010.
Personal life
He is the husband of Yvonne Angeli Lee Tupas. He is the son of former Iloilo governor Niel Tupas, Sr, brother of Barotac Viejo mayor Niel Tupas III, brother of Iloilo City councilor Lex Tupas and cousin of Iloilo vice governor and former 5th District representative Rolex Suplico.[3]
Chief Justice Corona Impeachment
He has been assigned to be lead prosecutor for the impeachment of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona.[4] Trial started on January 16, 2012 and ended May 29, 2012 with an overwhelming majority of the senators voting 20-3, impeaching the former Chief Justice for when he was found guilty of "committing culpable violation of the Constitution and betraying the public trust." [5]
Allegations of Corruption
In March 2014, Niel Tupas, Jr. was implicated in a scandalous PhP 10 billion ($228 million) PDAF (Pork) scam engineered by Janet Lim-Napoles, who siphoned government funds away to fake NGOs[6]. In the sworn affidavit submitted by former NabCor Vice President for Finance, Rhodora Mendoza together with her former colleague Vic Cacal to the Office of the Ombudsman, Tupas' alleged ghost entity, Kabuhayan at Kalusugan Alay sa Masa Foundation, received PhP 5 million from the the PhP 544 million worth of diverted funds for the year 2011. A total of 4 Senators and 78 other Lawmakers, including Tupas, were shown to have been consistent recipients and privy to the organized corruption scheme.
References
- ^ Iloilo’s explosive polls
- ^ JBC releases shortlist of Supreme Court nominees
- ^ Families flaunt political charisma in Iloilo
- ^ "[Updated] Who will argue what in CJ's impeachment trial? - Rappler". rappler.com. 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
- ^ http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/203451/historic-impeachment-trial-ends-gov%E2%80%99t-career-of-renato-corona
- ^ http://http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/586155/83-lawmakers-tied-to-agri-pork-racket