When a person's political career starts out with a genuine impulse to serve the people, you know he's on the right track.
So after seeing the devastation brought by Bagyong Reming in his hometown in Albay, the late AKO BICOL Party List Representative Rodel M. Batocabe saw it fit to carry out relief operations for his fellow Bicolanos in need.
Perhaps, this spurred his innate passion for public service, so it was no surprise that he led a party which topped the 2010 and 2016 elections.
Batocabe showed admirable humilty when he decided to shelf his "Vanity Bill" in response to the pulse of the people.
But RMB, as he is called by the people around him, maybe best remembered as a zealous lawyer and lawmaker, for which he was recognized as the most prolific party-list lawmaker in the 16th Congress.
A perennial delegate and participant to various international conferences in Asia, Europe, Australia, United States and Latin America, he has also authored and co-authored various laws especially on education, health, good governance and livelihood.
A fair mediator, Rep. Batocabe was the President and head of the Party List Coalition, a 50-member bloc in Congress, composed of party list representatives, and in his role he stressed the importance for partylists of having “one voice” to be recognized in the House.
In the 16th Congress, he pushed for the creation in the House of Representatives of the Committee on Climate Change for which he became its first Chairperson. He used to chair as well the Committee on Bicol Recovery and Economic Development.
And in the 17th Congress, he was a member of the prestigious House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal, the Joint Congressional Power Commission, Oversight Sub-Committee on Legislative Franchise, Vice Chairman of the Committee on Dangerous Drugs and Committee on Good Government and Public Accountability.
He is likewise a deputized member of the Board of Trustees of Dr. Emilio B. Espinosa, Sr. Memorial State College of Agriculture and Technology (DEBESMSCAT).
Batocabe was doing what he loved, serving his people. And in that fateful day during a routine gift-giving activity for Senior Citizens and PWDs, his short but impactful political career came to a close. But one thing is for sure: He served until the very end.
