We grieve the passing of our beloved Atty. J.J. Ungab

These last few days there has been a dark cloud hovering over our town. Ronda is shedding tears. There are no words to convey the depth of our sorrows and extent of our regret that we were not there to protect him, to revive him, and to give aid and comfort to his wife, Pearl. We are deeply affected because we feel the loss suffered by his beloved children, so young to be orphaned by an assailant’s bullet. We grieve with his mother Alma Blanco-Ungab, and his brother Junald, and sister who is abroad. They have just lost the father of Atty. Jan Jan, Dr. Eugenio, Jun Ungab, and the brother Ann Ann. And now, the Iron Man. We also grieve with Mama Sally Yap-Blanco, the matriarch in her nineties who should have been spared the pain on account of her age.

Above politics, feelings, and impulses, Atty. Jonnah John Blanco Ungab was our son, brother, vice mayor, friend, and comrade. When the murderers fired at him, they fired against all the almost 20,000 Rondahanons both in Ronda and elsewhere. He was well-loved, looked up to as a model. I personally feel a lingering sense of loss because he was very dear to me. He was my ring bearer, as Junald was my bible bearer, and the late Ann Ann was my arras bearer in 1978. He grew to be a fine man, lawyer, and a public servant. Many others envied him for his looks, brains, and his winning ways with people. He was beloved in Ronda, even by the farmers in Langin, the faraway village in the mountains near the boundaries with Argao, Sibonga, and Dumanjug.

He had no enemies because he was a man of peace. He did not believe that some murderers would kill him because he wronged no one, he did not take advantage of his superior knowledge or his possessions to put down or take away from anyone what did not belong to him. To my knowledge he was an honest man. He was merely doing his job as a lawyer, true to his oath as an officer of the court. That is why he did not bring any weapon at the time. He did not mind the many death threats because he had strong faith in God. He believed that life is borrowed and can be taken away, and there is no bulletproof vest or any security force that can prevent death when it is time.

We grieve the passing of our beloved Atty. Jan Jan. He was an inspiration to our youth, the pride of parents and teachers in Ronda and in all his former schools. He was a hero among the young lawyers who had the courage to stand before the court and provided counsel to men even if the courts of public opinion had already prejudged them guilty. He was a gladiator in the arena of legal battles. He feared no evil because he always believed that even the worst people deserve a lawyer to defend them. But above all, he was Pearl’s one and only love. He was his sons’ pillar of strength and his daughter’s protector and idol. Now they all have lost a pillar of their family. Ronda has lost the brightest star who could have been a future congressman or even governor. He was brilliant, passionate, daring, and had a clear vision for our town. Now we have lost our hope and we are at a loss on what to do with our town. We ask for prayers from all our readers. May God hold our hand in our moments of deepest anguish.