Who is Ako Bicol Rep. Rodel Batocabe?

Ako Bicol Rep. Rodel Batocabe leads a gift-giving event on Friday, Dec. 21, 2018, a day before he was shot at a similar event in Daraga, his hometown in Albay. (Photo from his Facebook account).

MANILA, Philippines — Ako Bicol partylist Rep. Rodel Batocabe was assassinated Saturday afternoon at a gift-giving event for senior citizens and persons with disabilities in Daraga, Albay.

So, who is this Bicol lawmaker?

Batocabe was vice chairman of the House committees on dangerous drugs, good government and public accountability, and natural resources.

He was a graduate of University of the Philippines-Diliman with Economics, Bachelor of Law degrees.

According to the official website of Ako Bicol partylist, some of Batocabe’s priority measures in the 17th Congress were House Bill No. 523 or The Filipino Identification System; House Bill No. 524 or Mandatory Philhealth Coverage for all Persons with Disabilities; and House Bill No. 525 or the Magna Carta of Agriculture and Fishery Development Worker.

Before the tragic incident, Batocabe urged the government to pursue the implementation of retail competition and open access (RCOA) policy that offers bulk users of electricity a choice of power suppliers and which could lower rates.

According to Batocabe, RCOA was a mechanism introduced by Republic Act No. 9136, more popularly known as the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (Epira) of 2001, to promote competition in the power industry and make available the lowest-priced electricity to big power consumers.

READ: Gov’t urged: Give power users choice of supplier

Also, Batocabe was among members of the House of Representatives who raised concern on the rising popularity of online cockfighting (locally known as “sabong”) that allows huge crowds at betting stations and lures bettors overseas.

READ: Online gambling craze: Rise of ‘e-sabong’ alarms solons

Batocabe said betting in cockfights online (“e-sabong”) was being conducted in provinces without state regulation. /kga