ZAMBOANGA CITY --- The 2008 Mayor Cesar C. Climaco Award for Good Governance has been conferred on Naga City Mayor Jesse M. Robredo during ceremonies held Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 20, at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University, this city.

       Fr. Antonio F. Moreno, S.J. of the Ateneo de Zamboanga University said the unanimous decision to grant the award to Mayor Robredo made a strong statement for the academic community and the wider community of Western Mindanao and beyond to a new brand of leadership that privileges accountability, transparency, effective city management and governance.

       The Jesuit priest said that as a multi-awarded mayor, Robredo may not need the Mayor Climaco award, but that they take pride in giving it because of what its stands for.

       Mayor Robredo said the latest award that he has received was an honor that the people of Naga City most deserve. He said that the most important lesson that he learned as the city’s chief executive “is that public servants should feel obliged to listen to and heed the people’s will always.”

       The mayor explained that public servants are servant leaders, their mission “is to serve and not be served”.

Mayor Climaco

       Robredo recalled that as a high school student in the turbulent 70s, he already heard much about Climaco as the fearless mayor of Zamboanga City who carried no gun and shunned bodyguards despite the violence that hounded Western Mindanao during that period.

       An anti-Marcos activist, Climaco vowed never to cut his hair until democratic rule was restored in the country.

       He was critical of the highly-centralized structure of government under which it was necessary to obtain the blessing of the Office of the President before funds could be disbursed. When President Marcos lifted martial law in 1981, Climaco retorted, “Marcos did not lift martial rule. He only tilted it.” Climaco was able to stoke anti-Marcos sentiment within Zamboanga City.

       In the morning of November 14, 1984, Climaco rushed to the scene of a fire that had broken out in downtown Zamboanga City. He supervised operations to put out the fire, and then prepared to leave. He sighted a display of caskets at a nearby funeral home and jokingly said, “Reserve one of those for me”. Climaco then mounted his motorcycle to return to his office. A man approached from behind and shot him in the nape at point-blank range. The assassin escaped, while Climaco was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.

       “His life and times showed us that he was a man of peace in the middle of crime and tyranny”, Robredo said of Climaco as he addressed the audience during the well-attended awarding ceremonies.

       Robredo stressed that Mayor Climaco was a man of conviction and good governance who fought graft and corruption that tried to muddle our democratic ideals.

       “He died a hero and left us a legacy of meaningful politics and good governance which is a challenge for each new political generation to emulate and improve on,” Robredo said as he paid tribute to a man who died while performing his duty.