“A happy and healthy people in a peaceful, progressive and environment-friendly community.”Such was the vision of Mayor Randy A Climaco, whose promising political career as a change agent for the Municipality of Tungawan was cut short when he was ambushed during one of his regular barangay visits on 12 October 2015.
Surmised to be election-related, Mayor Randy’s untimely demise is a sad testament to the state of our electoral process in this part of the country. As he was already on his third and last term as municipal mayor, he filed his Certificate of Candidacy (COC) as vice mayor for the coming 2016 elections with the hopes of continuing his mission of uplifting the lives of the Tungaweños through effective and efficient governance.
As a Bridging Leadership fellow, he generously shared his leadership journey with the participants of the AdZU-ACLG Municipal Leadership and Governance Program (MLGP), and inspired them with accounts of his accomplishments for his municipality—accessible social services, equitable distribution of opportunities, responsive infrastructure facilities, and sustainable utilization of natural resources.
Many can attest to how his programs and projects have provided opportunities that made government services more readily accessible to the people of Tungawan. His brand of leadership was also said to have bridged people of different beliefs, political affiliations, and ideologies to work for the common good through dialogue.
He was an alumnus of the Ateneo de Zamboanga University having finished a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1992.
His friends and colleagues remember him as a man who embodied integrity and simplicity. To his constituents, he is memorialized as a true bridging leader who opened the door of Tungawan to development as seen in the health and social services they now enjoy, and the improved infrastructure and establishments in their municipality.
The Ateneo de Zamboanga University community joins the family, friends, and constituents of Mayor Randy Climaco in mourning the death of a leader who dedicated his life pro Deo et patria.
