The feel to serve is as potent as the will to do it just the same. We can’t think of any other object of service other than this oft- repeated mantra of any candidate vying for public office. If any candidate up for election in the coming one is sounding like a broken record—because he keeps on repeating his motto of having the feel and the will to serve, then, it’s a foregone conclusion, why we are entertained no end as the election circus sets in. If only sincerity is the only yardstick for one to be elected, everybody and his uncle are sure winners. But there’s more to sincerity as an element to winning. There’s machinery and logistics to contend with not to mention charisma, pedigree and all that matters to convert vocal support into warm bodies of votes. In Baclayon, as usual, is a contest between two time tested names. Armed with all the credentials for voters to comprehend every which way they like it, we cannot imagine if the electorate is given no option to choose between the two perennial protagonists. For the uninitiated, as in the previous close encounters, the choice is still between two prominent names, the incumbent Mayor Alvin Uy, and another Uy, Benny, a long running political opponent.

How about another candidate for a change.

That precisely what motivates Phil Ibao, a rags-to-riches, self-made man living in the fringes of Baclayon, who too like any Baclayanon is a rightful claimant to the fame and glory of the historic town. If the name does not ring a bell, it’s because this self-made man earned his pile in Sultan Kudarat, a province populated mostly by Muslims and indigenous peoples in the Cotabato area. Earning his keeps “substantially” at least to propel a winning bid featuring the mayoralty plum of his hometown, this Phil, has the feel, the touch and the wherewithal of being a viable candidate. It helps that his wife, Dr. Pamela Loy, whose trappings of royalty is unmistakable as shown in her facial expression and mannerisms, is all-out in his support of her husband’s sincerity to serve. A dentist by profession, she was breed in Manila, although her maternal side, traced her roots to the Tausugs of Sultan Kudarat. The Loys belong to the Chinese old rich family of Manila thus combining the family assets of two distinct ancestries. This Cotabato connection helps explain while the Ibao-Loy partnership ended owning mineral concessions in Esperanza and Bagumbayan towns, all in Sultan Kudarat, dedicated to the mining of copper and manganese. The market? China.

Small-scale by mining standards in these areas, the family owns the PDI Ore Mines International of which Phil is the president. With PDI here standing for Phil Duterte Ibao, it must be mentioned here be that the Duterte is indeed the one everybody is familiar with especially those who are anywhere from Mindanao. He is no other than the famous former mayor of Davao City Rodrigo Duterte who for reason of consanguinity is a cousin of Phil being related to his mother. While we are mesmerized by the sincerity of his purpose, thus prompting us to write an inspirational piece of his own saga because, for one, just like any peace-loving Filipino he has all the rights to be counted as one among those who has the will to serve. This initial salvo on Phil Ibao is just the beginning of a series of introductions featuring his ambition to transform Baclayon into an emerging market center using his connections, his wealth and above all the feel and the will to serve which every candidate is subjected to for public scrutiny as the voters troop to the polls on May 13, 2013.

More of Phil when we return.