John Castriciones

John Rualo Castriciones (born January 8, 1962), also known by the nickname Bro. John, is a Filipino lawyer and writer who served as the Secretary of Agrarian Reform under the Duterte administration from 2017 to 2021. He was formerly Undersecretary for Operations of the Department of the Interior and Local Government from 2016 to 2017. A member of the Philippine Military Academy "Maharlika" class of 1984, Castriciones also served in various capacities under two previous administrations and as a law school professor at his alma mater Arellano University. Castriciones founded the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas together with the Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte-National Executive Coordinating Committee (MRRD-NECC).

Castriciones is a native of the province of Nueva Vizcaya. He was born on January 8, 1962, to a family of farmers in the municipality of Bayombong. He was pardoned four year later by the then newly installed President Corazon Aquino.

Castriciones then enrolled at the Trinity University of Asia in Quezon City, formerly Trinity College, and graduated magna cum laude with a political science degree. He served as legal counsel for several corporations and government officials in his more than 20 years of private law practice. Castriciones eventually founded his own law firm, the Castriciones Legal Consultancy, where his lawyer children also practice.

During the 2016 Philippine presidential election, Castriciones served as PDP–Laban's vice-president for Luzon who also supported the candidacy of then-mayor of Davao City, Rodrigo Duterte, as president of the Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte for President Movement (MRRDPM). He was eventually appointed by Duterte as Undersecretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government upon his assumption to office. Castriciones, who earlier expressed interest in running for a senatorial post in the 2019 Philippine Senate election, announced in October 2018 that he was dropping out of the senatorial race and will be keeping his post as Agrarian Reform secretary. In October 2021, he stepped down as secretary to run for senator in 2022 under PDP–Laban. He was also named as the guest candidate under the senatorial slate of Isko Moreno, as he has expressed support to his candidacy for president. Castriciones lost after placing 49th in the official results and garnering over 719 thousand votes.