Rosalina Jalosjos

Rosalina Garcia Jalosjos was born on 1 May 1947 in Isabela, Basilan, in the southern Philippines, to Dominador and Angelina Jalosjos. She was one of seven children in a family that would become one of the best known political clans in Zamboanga del Norte.

She went to Pilar College in Zamboanga City for elementary and high school and began pre-nursing studies there, then spent four years at Bohol Provincial Hospital, where she completed her nursing degree. At the age of 22 she emigrated to the United States. She lived in Chicago, Illinois, for a few years before moving to Houston, Texas, in the early 1980s.

In Houston she worked as a registered nurse at the VA hospital, retiring after 30 years of service. Her family wrote that she loved being a nurse.

After retiring from nursing, Jalosjos moved back to the Philippines and entered local politics. She was elected a member of the Dapitan City Council in 2010 and served until 2013.

In 2013 she was elected mayor of Dapitan, defeating Agapito Cardino, who had taken office only months earlier after the Commission on Elections nullified the 2010 victory of her brother Dominador Jalosjos Jr. She was re-elected in 2016 and again in 2019, in a tense race against former Dipolog City mayor Evelyn Uy in which her camp filed disqualification cases challenging Uy's residency.

In 2022, as her third term as mayor ended, she ran for governor of Zamboanga del Norte against Uy and four other candidates and won, becoming the first woman to lead the province and ending the Uy family's hold on the governorship since 2013. Before taking office she protested outgoing governor Roberto Uy's move to donate millions of pesos' worth of medical equipment to other local governments. Rappler described her as an advocate for marginalised communities and environmental protection. She served one term, to June 2025. In the 2025 elections she ran for mayor of Dipolog City but was defeated by Roberto Uy.

Jalosjos was the sister of Romeo Jalosjos, the former Zamboanga del Norte congressman who led the family's political organisation, and of former officials including Cesar Jalosjos, Cecilia Jalosjos-Carreon and Dominador Jalosjos Jr. Her nephews and nieces include Bullet Jalosjos, Romeo Jalosjos Jr., Rommel Jalosjos and Svetlana Jalosjos-de Leon.

She was married to David Johnson for 20 years, and in the United States she was known as Rosalina Johnson. They had three children, Roselyn, Judith and David Jr., and she had two grandchildren.

Rosalina Jalosjos died on 13 August 2026 in Houston, Texas, at the age of 79, according to the obituary published by her family. She had spent her final days in the care of Houston Hospice. No cause of death was made public. Because of the time difference, reports in the Philippines, including the Manila Bulletin and Rappler, gave the date as Friday 14 August.

Her death followed that of her brother Romeo Jalosjos on 2 August and, days earlier, that of her sister Jasmin So. The Dapitan City Government confirmed the news on its Facebook page, saying it remembered her "not only for the positions she held and the years she devoted to public service, but for the gentleness, warmth, and genuine care with which she led."

A visitation and rosary were held in Houston on 28 August and a funeral Mass on 29 August. Her remains were brought from Houston to Dapitan City on 29 September 2026 and taken on to Zamboanga City on 2 October.

Jalosjos came to public office late in life, after a full career in nursing abroad, and in just over a decade rose from city councillor to governor. As the first woman to govern Zamboanga del Norte, she holds a lasting place in the province's history, and she was a central figure in the long rivalry between the Jalosjos and Uy families. Dapitan's city government said she would be remembered as a loving and compassionate leader whose quiet strength left a lasting mark on the city and the province.