Ex-congressman Mark Jimenez dead at 70

Former Manila congressman and billionaire Mark Jimenez, the “corporate genius” whose checkered history in US and Philippine politics made him a colorful figure in the late 1990s and early 2000s, died on Tuesday.

He was 70.

Jimenez left behind 13 children. “He embodied a story for all of us, one of starting humbly, rising above all his circumstances and eventually choosing a life of service,” his family said in a statement issued Tuesday night.

“This is the story we choose to remember him by, as his children, all 13 of us, and his chosen children, in District 6 in Manila,” their statement read.

Jimenez’ body will lie in state at Funeraria Rey in Pandacan on April 27 and 28 with masses at 7 p.m. and will then be moved to Heritage Park in Taguig City on April 29 and 30 with masses at 7 p.m. on Saturday.

A final Mass will be held at 8 p.m. on Sunday.

A former Manila representative, Jimenez was once described as a “corporate genius” by former President Joseph Estrada, who had invited him to help in the government’s anti-poverty alleviation programs.

Jimenez had made a fortune in the late 1980s after establishing a firm in Miami, Florida that exported computer parts to Latin American markets.

Then he entered the public sphere in the Philippines when he became one of Estrada’s trusted confidantes and political operators, later becoming the latter’s adviser on Latin American affairs.

He briefly became owner of the Manila Times newspaper after it came under tremendous political pressure from the Estrada administration as it faced a P100 million libel suit, which had prompted the Gokongwei family to sell the publication.

Jimenez was elected representative of the sixth district of Manila in May 2001, after Estrada was ousted through the peaceful uprising known as Edsa Dos. But he was unseated in 2002.

While this was happening, US authorities were seeking his extradition to the US as he was indicted on tax evasion charges and election financing offenses for his campaign contributions to the Democratic Party.

He had initially contested his extradition but in December 2002 he offered “voluntary” extradition and left the country.

On Nov. 14, 2003, he was convicted and sentenced to 27 months in prison in Miami, Florida, and fined $1.2 million after pleading guilty to the charges. He served 22 months of his sentence.

Born Mario Crespo on Dec. 31, 1946 in Paco, Manila, he was the fourth child in a brood of seven of Ramon Salamat Crespo and Carmen Acosta Batacan.

At a young age, Jimenez was sent to the Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in Makati, but he left when he could no longer take the vow of poverty. He dropped out in his first year in college at Ateneo de Manila when he met and married his first wife.

In 1981, Jimenez showed moments of promise as a businessman in Manila until his marriage fell apart. Running away with his seven children, he had hoped to find a new life in the US, but his estranged wife had succeeded in putting his name in the hold-departure list of the immigration bureau.

He managed to get a new passport from “someone,” he said, but it cost him a lot. His new name, “Mark Jimenez” was inspired by his devotion to St. Mark, and the last name of a family friend, Jimmy Jimenez, who helped him find his bearings in the US.

The bulk of his wealth, he claimed, came from his buy-and-sell business and from computers. In 1984 and with only a $2,000 capitalization, Jimenez said he put up Apex Magnetics in California, a company engaged in buying out-of-brand diskettes such as Verbatim and selling these at discounted prices. In 1986, Apex shifted to selling Seagates hard drives which replaced the diskettes.

In 1988, Jimenez said he moved to Miami, Florida and replaced Apex with Future Tech International, a computer firm that exported parts to lucrative markets in Latin America, “which was at that time three years behind in computers.”

He said he managed to convince two American manufacturers of computer components—Quantum Corp. of Milpitas, California and Cyrix Corp. of Richardson, Texas to make him the exclusive distributor of their components in Latin America. Soon, he said, Future Tech was considered one of the top 300 fastest growing companies in America.

In 1998, Jimenez fled to the Philippines in time for the presidential election, and just before a US justice department campaign-finance task force could charge him with tax evasion.

In April 1999, the task force filed the charges in a 47-count superseding indictment. His first indictment was for violation of US election laws which prohibit hard-money contributions from foreign nationals.

Jimenez said he became very close with Estrada. But soon enough, they had a falling out. Some people suspect that it was Jimenez who provided most of the damning documents that implicated the former actor-president during the impeachment trial.

After Estrada was ousted by People Power, Jimenez ran for and won a seat in Congress in 2001.