Rodel Batocabe
The Honorable Rodel Batocabe | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait (c. 2018) | |
| Member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines for Ako Bicol | |
| In office June 30, 2010 – December 22, 2018 | |
| Succeeded by | Ronald Ang |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Rodel Masigan Batocabe April 25, 1966 Ako Bicol Political Party |
| Spouse | Gertie Batocabe (m. 1990) |
| Occupation | Lawyer, politician |
Rodel Masigan Batocabe (April 25, 1966 – December 22, 2018) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, and member of the
Early life
Rodel Masigan Batocabe was born on April 25, 1966 in Daraga, Albay. [3] He was born eldest among three children to parents from a working class background to Justino De Leon Batocabe, a sanitary inspector who worked for the Municipality of Daraga and Natividad Masigan an elementary public school teacher. Natividad, a career public school teacher instilled in him the values of perseverance, hard work and the value of a good education.
Education
As a young boy coming from humble beginnings, he was already inquisitive and entrepreneurial minded. His mother enrolled him at the Legazpi City's prestigious Benedictine School St. Agnes Academy just adjacent to their hometown Municipality of Daraga completing elementary and graduating with the award in Best in Social Studies in 1978. After his completion, he transferred to Dominican School Aquinas University (Now called University Sto Tomas- Legazpi) for his secondary education. The next four years saw the transformation of Batocabe into a student in pursuit of academic excellence as he was an active student leader and a consistent scholar graduating class valedictorian in 1982.
After graduating High School Batocabe moved to Quezon City and was enrolled in University of the Philippines Diliman toping the College Scholastic Aptitude Test (CSAT), the National College Entrance Examination and the National Science and Technology Authority Scholarship Examination and even ranked in the top 100 scholars nationwide. Initially, Batocabe would take up Engineering as his course even toping the 1982 University of the Philippines Geodetic Engineering Scholarship Examination but despite this he would later shift to take up BS Economics and earn a bachelor's degree with honors in 1986.[1] He then received his law degree from the University of the Philippines College of Law in 1991 being awarded the Most Outstanding Law Intern in the same year and passing the bar exam in 1992. He also has a master's degree in public administration from the University of the Philippines Diliman.[1]
Early Career
Atty. Batocabe started his legal career as the Associate Partner for the Chavez Laureta and Associates Law Offices. He became part of the firm had been known for its courageous and zealous advocacy of the causes of its clients. He was mentored for four years by two outstanding UP alumni, the late former Solicitor General, Atty Francisco "Frank" Chavez one of the foremost and fearless lawyers in this country, and Atty. Jose C. Laureta who served as the Commissioner of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) administration of the late former Pres. Corazon Aquino.
In February 1995, Atty Rodel M. Batocabe teamed up with his fellow UP Law friends and opened up the Roque Butuyan Batocabe & Gangoso Law Offices (RBBGLO) in Makati City. Atty. Batocabe became the firms managing partner and his primary assignment was civic works with secondary on corporate litigations, power generation, telecommunications, environmental law, and corporate special projects. They were once described by an American lawyer as "the most troublesome small law firm in the Philippines." The partnerships lasted five years until June 1997 when Atty. Batocabe decided it was time to focus on his own career and life.
On July 7, 1997 he opened up the Batocabe & Associates Law Offices as a solo proprietorship. In July 2001 the firm transferred to Ortigas Center, Pasig City where it is still located today.[4]Through the years , business grew as the firm began to be recognized for specialty in civic works. At the zenith of its operations the firm mostly concentrated on corporate, civil, administrative, transportations and banking laws. Its four lawyers and twelve employees handled sensational high profile and extra-ordinary cases that hugged the headlines in the early and mid-2000s such as the Tradition Homes and Development Corporation, Madlambayan-Dimson Realty and Development Corporation, Cole Energy and Mining Corporation, Philippine Merchant Marine School Inc., RPA Communicate, Inc., Infosoft Solutions, Inc., Anjene Industries, Inc., and A.D. Lawrence's Inc.
Political Career
Murder
In 2018 Batocabe announced his candidacy for Mayor of
On December 22, 2018, Batocabe was attending a gift giving event for senior citizens in the small village of Burgos in
On January 3, 2019, police announced that Daraga Mayor Carlwyn Baldo had ordered the killing of Rep. Batocabe.[5][6] At the time of his murder, Batocabe was running for Mayor of Daraga, while Baldo was seeking re-election.[5] According to the police, Baldo hired six men to kill Batocabe and set up $95,000 in funds to pay for the murder.[5] The plot had allegedly been in the works since August 2018, when Baldo supplied $4,600 to one of the hitmen to purchase guns and motorcycles.[5] Mayor Carlwyn Baldo denied the allegations in a statement read over the phone to local radio stations, calling himself "a convenient scapegoat."[5]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Cepeda, Mara (December 22, 2018). "Who is Rodel Batocabe?". Rappler. Archived from the original on January 13, 2019. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
- ^ New York Times. Archived from the originalon January 5, 2019. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
- ^ "Batocabe, Rodel M." Politiko. August 29, 2015. Archived from the original on December 19, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
- ^ "Batocabe & Partners". Batocabe & Partners. 2024-04-18. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
- ^ New York Times. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-12-11.