Once there was a Roel Degamo

"To Kill A Mockingbird" and "Minsa’y Isang Gamu-Gamo" are two classic movies that may be the story of the late Governor Roel Degamo. They could also be the story of our nation's many struggles.

This country has gone through centuries of injustice, exploitation, and oppression both by foreign and local despots, charlatans, and scoundrels. But once upon a time, we had a Dr. Jose Rizal, a Ninoy Aquino, and a Roel Degamo. They are the occasional "breath of fresh air in a catacomb of stench and decay."

"Minsa’y Isang Gamu-Gamu" was an award-winning 1976 movie starring Nora Aunor, which told the story of poor Filipinos living near Clark Air Base in Pampanga. A young boy scavenger was mistaken by American soldiers as a wild pig and was shot dead. His sister fought for justice and exposed social injustices against the poor natives committed by American servicemen.

The assassination of Degamo and his widow's fight for justice somehow resembles the message of that movie. A young Filipina nurse, Corazon de la Cruz, played by Nora Aunor, reexamines her planned migration to the US to work as a hospital nurse after her brother, Carlito, was shot dead by American soldiers. The movie was written by award-winning writer Marina Feleo Gonzales and directed by Ninoy Aquino's sister, Lupita A. Kashiwahara. The stellar cast included the FAMAS awardee and Cebu's pride Gloria Sevilla as Nora's mother and other talented actors like Jay Ilagan, Leo Martinez, Perla Bautista, Carlos Padilla Jr., and German Moreno. It was a beautiful story of how the poor stood up to fight the powers-that-be. Now it’s like the crusade of Janice Degamo against the Negros elite.

The story of Degamo was like that of David attempting to slay Goliath represented by landlords and hacienderos in Negros, dominated by rich sugarcane planters who amassed landed estates through the confiscatory encomienda system during Spanish colonization. The story of Degamo was like that of Crisostomo Ibarra and Elias in the masterpieces Noli and Fili that exposed the exploitative and now transactional economic and political systems in Negros, as a microcosm of the Philippine socio-economic profile. Degamo was some sort of "gamu-gamo" that challenged the landed gentry in Negros.

Degamo was born in the small village of Bonawon, Siaton, Negros Oriental, on April 29, 1966, he struggled to get a decent education in nearby Dumaguete City, and obtained a degree in Mechanical Engineering in Silliman University. He immediately passed the licensure exams and became an engineer. He was so good at relating with people that he won three terms as a municipal councilor in Siaton. In 2010, he ran and won as provincial board member of Negros Oriental. After the vice governor died in office, Degamo assumed the position. Then, destiny made him governor after the incumbent governor also died in office later.

After serving the rest of the deceased governor's term. Degamo was elected three times in a row, serving as governor from 2011 to 2022. In 2022, he was allowed by Comelec to run again because his terms were interrupted by suspensions and supposed dismissals by the Ombudsman due to what he considered political machinations of wealthy political rivals. His rivals put up another candidate with the name “Ruel Degamo” which led to Roel's supposed defeat. But later, Comelec declared that person a nuisance candidate and counted all his 49,953 votes in favor of Roel Degamo, who was declared winner over Pryde Henry Teves. Last February 14, the Supreme Court en banc dismissed Teves' petition to annul Roel's victory.

Degamo was so loved by the people that it became very difficult to oust him legally or politically. On March 4, 2023, while serving the poor people of Negros inside his home in Pamplona where his wife, Janice, is mayor, Degamo was killed by armed men. Five suspects were immediately arrested. Criminal charges were immediately filed against 30 suspects and the Supreme Court ordered that trial should be held in Manila, away from the elite-controlled province.

The one advantage of the Degamos was that they belonged to the party of the president. On that score, the Degamos are better destined than the other victims. After his demise, the name Degamo became a byword and a symbol of the small guys disrupting the monopoly of the rich. He was a gamu-gamo to the landlords of Negros and a mockingbird to the political elite. He was a threat to the sugar barons. Like Jesus, Rizal, and Ninoy, Roel he had to be crucified. His audacity and courage was a disruptor to the ruling class.