RELATIVELY a junior in the media profession in Davao City is now bent on changing his career after roughly 20 years.
We are referring to Tek Ocampo who, until his filing of certificate of candidacy for councilor in the first district of Davao City, was the lead anchor of the top-rated news program of GMA 7 Davao. Yes, Tek was unable to resist the call for public service and after giving serious thought about an invitation to him from Davao’s top political leadership, decided that it was time for him to change career. Tek is now leaving the media practice to try his luck as politician whose main objective is to be part of the local government department charged to craft ordinances that will be incorporated in the sets of policies with which the LGU operates.
Of course for us his move is not surprising. The top GMA anchorman is not really alien in politics. He comes from a family who hag been able to serve the then undivided Province of Davao del Sur in various capacities. His uncle the late Primo Ocampo was a long-serving Marcos time governor of the province. Tek’s father was also once Vice Governor even as he used to be in government service as a top official of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) in the Davao Region before he entered politics.
For this we believe that Tek Ocampo has big shoes to fill. But having known the anchorman to be a no-nonsense broadcaster who for several occasions when we were working in a private corporation refused to honor our invitation for lunch for fear of being suspected of taking bribe, we have no doubt he will be the ideal councilor for the city’s first district.
Thus, in our personal capacity, we are strongly endorsing Tek’s candidacy and we wish the rest of his peers in the local media will do the same. After all we learned that Tek Ocampo was personally invited by Mayor Sara (now a Vice Presidential candidate) to be part of the line-up of the Hugpong ng Pagbabago.
Good luck Tek!
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The one person we were also hoping to cast his luck again in Davao City’s politics is former councilor Peter Lavina. The guy made good during his stint in the City Council. He, too, is an excellent organizer who helped a lot in the campaign of President Rodrigo Duterte.
Peter however, seems to have abhorred going back to politics in any capacity. But based on what we have read in the papers and in the social media, he is again leading in the strengthening of an organization that is supporting the Presidential candidacy of Bongbong Marcos and the Vice Presidential aspiration of Mayor Sara Duterte. Under Pete’s leadership the BBM-Sara support group is seemingly growing exponentially.
But we would have been more comfortable and assured if Peter made a come-back in the local political scene. His talent, we believe, would have been more useful if he is to be councilor again.
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We are looking forward to totally knowing the platform of government of those aspiring for mayor of Davao City on the first day of the official campaign period for candidates to local government positions come March 25, 2022.
The one that we are hoping to give full disclosure of his platform is lawyer Ruy Elias Lopez, being the more prominent among those challenging the administration bet. We are also looking forward to that of Basti Duterte’s who is of course the administration bet. But we have to admit that we are not expecting a major deviation of the Presidential son’s platform to that of what had been carried on by her sister Sara.
In fact we are seeing a carry-over platform or simply rehashes of everything that is going on in his sister’s and father’s governance mantra.
We too, are hoping to see even just a glimpse of what the two other candidates for mayor intend to do to the city if they have the chance; of the very things they see will catapult them to the position they are aspiring for.
Meanwhile, we are hoping to see in Ruy Lopez’s platform something radical that his opponent Basti cannot claim the Lopez scion is merely promising something his father and sister have been doing all along.
In other words, we are looking forward to Atty. Ruy Elias Lopez committing to do something that will rock the foundation of what would be the local admin mayoralty bet’s platform. Ruy’s plan must go beyond offering solution to the growing Davao City’s traffic problem; providing a new way of solving criminality; or talk of a scheme to solve the rising informal settlers agglomeration. There must be something new, or even a retrieved plans years back, that may already be responsive to the Davaoenos’ aspirations today. What this is let Ruy’s advisers or those of the other two candidates’ think deeply.
For comments and/or reactions we can be reached through our e-mail address: victorino.sumalinog@yahoo.com; Mobile No. 09392980435; or Landline at 2372169 or at our Messenger address.
