Justo Justo (September 21, 1941 – May 18, 2012) was a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

columnist and

Pasay Pasay, officially the City of Pasay ( fil, Lungsod ng Pasay; ), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Metro Manila, National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, i ...

city councilor. He was known as a flamboyant

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

activist.

Early life

Panfilo C. Justo, widely known as Justo C. Justo or simply JJ, came from a poor family in the

sitio A ''sitio'' (Spanish for "site") in the Philippines is a territorial enclave that forms part of a barangay. Typically rural, a ''sitios location is usually far from the center of the barangay itself and could be its own barangay if its popul ...

of Manlumay,

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has be ...

. He was born to Francisco Justo Sr. and Ma. Lourdes Milagros Cagoco on September 21, 1941. JJ sold local delicacies to support his elementary education. As a consistent

honor student An honors student or honor student is a student recognized for achieving high grading (education), grades or high marks in their coursework at school. United States In the US, honors students may refer to: # Students recognized for their academi ...

he graduated as

valedictorian Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution. The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...

of the Barangay Palarao Elementary School. His father wanted him to become a lawyer, but after his early death JJ had to take care of his younger brother Francisco Jr. (Frank) and sister Edith.

Career

JJ enrolled at the Rizal Central Colleges in

to pursue his high school education. They left Leyte when he was in third year at the Calubian High School. JJ sold roasted corn and

lugaw ''Lugaw'', also spelled ''lugao'', is a Filipino glutinous rice dish or porridge. Lugaw may refer to various dishes, both savory and sweet. In Visayan regions, savory ''lugaw'' are collectively referred to as ''pospas''. ''Lugaw'' is widely ...

to support his studies. He finished high school as Most Outstanding Graduate. JJ's boyhood hobbies included sketching men’s and ladies apparel, writing both poetry and prose, including

Visayan Visayans ( Visayan: ''mga Bisaya''; ) or Visayan people are a Philippine ethnolinguistic group or metaethnicity native to the Visayas, the southernmost islands of Luzon and a significant portion of Mindanao. When taken as a single ethnic group ...

lyrics for popular American songs. His stepfather Cecilio Pamintuan, novelist and movie writer, gave JJ his first training in journalism. He was later encouraged and helped in his writing by novelists Rico Bello Omagap, Orlando Nadres and Pablo Gomez. In 1968 he joined the staff of the former newspaper ''Philippine Sun'', which allowed him to develop his controversial writing style. He was the first to be published using

swardspeak Swardspeak (also known as gay speak or "gay lingo") is an argot or cant slang derived from Taglish (Tagalog-English code-switching) and used by a number of LGBT people in the Philippines. Description Swardspeak uses elements from Tagalog, English ...

. JJ founded Pasay Aids Watch and Information Drive (PAWID), and used his own

foundation Foundation may refer to: * Foundation (nonprofit), a type of charitable organization ** Foundation (United States law), a type of charitable organization in the U.S. ** Private foundation, a charitable organization that, while serving a good cause ...

JJ Barangayan (Phils.) Foundation, Inc. to fight against the spread of AIDS. Justo used to host a television program titled ''Etchos Lang,'' and gained attention for the cause when he convinced AIDS victim Sarah Jane Salazar to share her story to the public. He also played a leading part in the establishment of the " Home for the Golden Gays", a retirement home for homosexuals such as Walter Dempster.

Political life

JJ was among the first media celebrities to make the transition to public office. He started his career in the political arena as a Kagawad and later became a

barangay A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolitan ...

chairman in 1987. He became a councilor of Pasay in the 1980s, and completed three terms.

Personal life

He married Adela, by whom he had two daughters, Maria Louela Justo-Galvez and Ma. Milagros Justo-Miyazawa.

Death

Justo died on May 18, 2012, at the

Philippine General Hospital The Philippine General Hospital (also known as University of the Philippines–Philippine General Hospital or UP–Philippine General Hospital), simply referred to as UP–PGH or PGH, is a tertiary state-owned hospital administered and operated ...

. He had been bedridden for a year with spinal column problems due to diabetes. His remains were interred at Golden Haven Memorial,

Las Piñas Las Piñas, officially the City of Las Piñas ( fil, Lungsod ng Las Piñas), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 606,293 people. Las Piñas ...

Filmography

Actor

Writing & crew

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Justo, Justo 1941 births 2012 deaths People from Leyte (province) People from Pasay Writers from Metro Manila Filipino LGBT writers Filipino columnists Filipino activists HIV/AIDS activists Deaths from diabetes Metro Manila city and municipal councilors Filipino LGBT politicians