Jose Concepcion Jr, former trade secretary and Namfrel founder, passes away
Jose Concepcion Jr., one of the persons who founded the quick-count group Namfrel which gained fame during the snap elections of 1986, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 92.
This was announced by his family.
Concepcion, who headed RFM Corp., set up Namfrel or National Movement for Free Elections in 1983. It became famous by quick reporting of votes during the February 1986 snap elections where it showed Corazon Aquino leading President Ferdinand Marcos Sr,
Namfrel tallied 7,158, 679 votes for Aquino while Marcos had 6,532, 362. But the Commission on Elections showed Marcos the winner with 10, 807, 197 while Aquino garnered 9,291, 716.
A few weeks after this, Defense Secretary Juan Ponce Enrile and Armed Forces of the Philippines vice chief of staff Lt. Gen. Fidel Ramos broke away from the government, setting the bloodless coup that would unseat Marcos.
After Aquino took her oath of office, she named Concepcion trade secretary from 1986 to 1991 where he helped rebuild business.
n a brief statement, Namfrel said the poll watchdog is fully committed to carry on with the original aspirations of Concepcion.
"JoeCon inspired hundreds of thousands of ordinary Filipinos to take up the cause of free and fair elections and to volunteer to join Namfrel," said Namfrel. "Filipinos heeded his call, and his legacy lives on in the hearts of every Namfrel volunteer, who strives to continue what he and his fellow Namfrel pioneers started," it added. DMS.