Analyze ‘BG’ First, Not ‘Abellanosa’
Written By Mikael Borres
Just months after Rodrigo “Bebot” Abellanosa won his third and final consecutive term as Cebu City South District’s Representative, SunStar was already making whispers about Abellanosa “grooming” one of his sons to run for his seat in 2022. To quote the newspaper:
Who among his children? A son, BG Abellanosa, graduated with a master's degree (master of mathematical finance) at Ateneo de Manila last June 3. By 2022, he could be ready -- in age, education and "cultural right of succession" -- to run for his dad's place in Congress.
Another prediction SunStar made was that former Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña would run for the South District congressional seat in the next election.
Their latter prediction of Osmeña running for Congress was initially proven to be right when the former mayor filed his Certificate of Candidacy (COC) on October 7, 2021. However, in a sudden turn, he withdrew his COC on November 12, citing his hesitation to move to Manila to do the job of Congressman.
Bebot Abellanosa’s 25-year-old son, BG (which apparently stands for “Bebot Gwapo”) swooped in to be Osmeña’s substitute.
The party that the Abellanosas and Osmeña lead, the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK), were quick to praise the young Abellanosa, lauding his youth as an asset.
(Sometimes) Like Father, Like Son
BG himself noted that he has been “exposed” to politics all his life, further stating how he has “inculcated” the principles held by former Mayor Tommy Osmeña and his wife Margot Osmeña (a former city council who is running for Cebu City Mayor) since he was around them when he was young.
But above all other influences in BG’s life is his father, Congressman Bebot Abellanosa.
“The kind of leadership I learned from him [Congressman Bebot] is the kind of leadership where you don’t put yourself above others. The kind of leadership that I want to be, if I’m given the chance to be elected, is one that listens to the people; listens to their needs, listens to their problems, [and] listens to their concerns [...] The kind of leadership that’s collaborative, that’s work with other people. That’s the kind of leadership that I learned from him.”
Make no mistake, however. Voters shouldn’t expect the exact kind of service from Bebot Abellanosa’s son. Influences can only go so far in moulding someone. BG highlighted that his father is more of a “feeling” leader who connects with the people intimately, whereas BG is more inclined to take a “more scientific” approach considering his tertiary background in mathematics and finance.
“I want to measure things,” he said. “If I want to do something that helps the people, then I need to find a way to ensure that the impact I make can be seen through numbers […] [Congressman Bebot’s approach] has its own advantages in the sense that he can do things right away, whereas, for me, I’m more of a data-driven person.”
Assessing The Situation
Throughout Abellanosa’s work as a legislative consultant (for his father’s office) and now campaigning this election season, he’s been going through the streets of Cebu City’s South District to get the data he needs to assess what the people of his community deserves.
The biggest issue the people of the South District are facing, Abellano suggested, is the education crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the hastened shift to online learning.
“... because of [the pandemic], many children have stopped going to school because most of them do not have the Wi-Fi. Wala silay [They don’t have the] Wi-Fi, wala silay cellphone or the computer to take online classes.
“But what I’ve also seen is that because of the past two years [that] these children are not in school anymore. Naa nay uban [There are others] who have become parents. Others have become users of drugs. Teenage pregnancy in the country has risen in the past two years because of the pandemic. Drug use among our children, or even the teens, nisaka [grew] in the past two years because of this pandemic”
He said that even when the country either goes back to normal or adapts to the “new normal”, it’s unlikely that these young people will go back to finish their education considering their own “new normal” as parents or dependents of drugs.
Another crisis he’s wary of — and he links it with the current educational troubles of the youth — is the economic one that the Philippines is still suffering through because of the pandemic. When stay-at-home orders were beginning to be issued across the country in March 2020, the economic impacts on the people were quick and severe. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), 17.7% of Filipinos in the workforce were unemployed, having no income to provide for their families.
But even as the unemployment rate eases down from 17.7% (the latest rate being 6.4%), it’s nowhere near the pre-pandemic levels of around 5%.
“So even if ang bata, ganahan siya mapadayon sa iyang pangiskwela … tungod iyang parents, wa nay trabaho, it becomes more difficult for the parents to send their children to school. So ang uban pud ana, naghunong pud,” Abellanosa said.
(So even if the child wants to continue his schooling … because his/her parents no longer have jobs, it becomes more difficult for the parents to send their children to school. So others had to stop their education.)
Recommending What The South District Deserves
His top priority, if given the honour and responsibility of being his district’s representative in Congress, would be to establish an academically-inclusive public college in Cebu City. This college would cater to Cebu City students from low-income families who wish to pursue tertiary education in a public institution (where tuition is free) but do not have the grades that qualify them to study in most public colleges and universities in Cebu City (which tend to have relatively high standards for enrollment).
In some instances, when these low-income students fail to meet the requirements of these aforementioned public colleges and universities (like the University of the Philippines - Cebu and Cebu Normal University), they either choose to not go to school or attend a private institution. If a student chooses to attend a private school, his/her tuition can be subsidized by the state — but it is not always fully paid.
“I think it’s not a controversial take to say [that] poverty is one of those things that can pull your grades down,” Abellanosa remarked, mentioning how some students are occupied with household obligations or paid work to help their families stay afloat.
“So, for me […] just because a student doesn’t have the requisite grades, it doesn’t mean [that] he should be denied the opportunity to finish his schooling.”
On the issue of inadequate internet access for students, particularly for those who cannot afford their own access or who live in areas with poor access to the internet, Abellanosa adopts a ‘bottoms-up’ approach, raising the work of party mate and two-term Barangay Buhisan barangay captain Gremar “Wi-Fi Man” Barete (who is running to be Cebu City South District councilor this election) as a model for progress.
“He’s a barangay captain there in Barangay Buhisan, which is one of our mountain barangays [in the South District]. What he was able to do was that he was able to provide Wi-Fi access to all his sitios.
“So what I want to do is that I want to work with him. He already has the technical skills necessary to prove Wi-Fi access (since he is a marine engineer), especially to those who are underprivileged [...] informal settlers, for example. He was able to provide for them. It’s not the fastest, but it’s enough for them to be able to download their modules.”
On a grander scope of the problem, he acknowledges that a large-scale structural change is in order to improve internet access in Cebu and in the Philippines. For Abellanosa, he thinks that competition amongst telecommunication companies.
“... para maengganyo sila [to entice them] (internet providers] to provide better service [for] our internet users here in the Philippines,” Abellanosa said.
Based On Experience
Abellanosa’s prioritization of education is partly a result of his time working as a legislative consultant for his father. Specifically, he touted his support work on the crafting of Republic Act (RA) 10931, commonly known as the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act. RA 10931 made all public colleges and universities tuition-free.
“I made the calculations. I searched how many public colleges and universities there are in the Philippines, and then looked at the courses they offered, and how many students they have for that course. And then I performed statistical analysis so we can forecast not just how much we’re going to spend next school year, but also in the coming years. We’re talking about five years from now, ten years from now.”
Abellanosa is also credited with helping another education bill, RA 1185, which founded the Cebu Technological University (CTU)’s mountain satellite campus.
“...a few months ago, while we were on the campaign trail, I meet this person who was very thankful to our office of the Congressman Abellanosa kay [because] he’s from the mountain barangays [...] nagpasalamat siya na nakasulod siya sa [he was thankful that he got into] CTU. He was able to finish his college education.
“He took Education as his course [...] and then he took the board exams. Nakapasar siya, and now he’s a teacher — a licensed teacher.
Abellanosa said that it’s one impactful moment he’s had, recalling how fulfilling it felt to hear that his work led to someone else’s prosperity. During the conversation, he reflected on what life could have been for that teacher if that campus never got built; that then-student may have had to trek to get to the nearest university or move to get closer, which would have been costly for him.
“...makabusog [...] very heart-warming that you can see this person now has a, I can say, a brighter future. And I hope that I will be able to bring that brightness to Cebuanos in the future, hopefully.”
Recommended Song: With A Smile - Eraserheads
Images from the Rodrigo “Bebot” Abellanosa’s Facebook Page
