Case in point: Benjie Sanchez Oliva who seriously takes his role.
Married since 2013, the former youth leader and community builder has two children with lawyer Joan.
"I love being a father; it’s one of the joys of life," said Benjie, also known as "Bobong" to his friends and relatives. “My greatest achievement is my children and my family.”
The smart and talented Edelle Rose “Edroe”, 6, and bubbly and intelligent Ven Victor “Vin”, 4, are blessed to have a hardworking and dedicated man to be their father. Notwithstanding his busy schedule, he makes it a point to spend quality time with them.
Student leader
Benjie, 39, was born to Ben Segundino Cabillanes Oliva, a native of Barangay Baang in Catigbian, Bohol and Rosita Camiguing Sanchez of Misamis Occidental. His father passed away when he was four years old. His mother who was then a jobless widow was to get a job as a day care teacher in Catigbian to support and sustain his two growing children.
He finished his elementary education at Central West Elementary School, Poblacion Weste, Catigbian, Bohol with honors and secondary education at Immaculate Mary Academy also in Catigbian as first honorable mention.
He finished his Bachelor in Agricultural Technology degree as cum laude at Central Visayas State College of Agriculture, Forestry and Technology (CVSCAFT)- Bilar town now Bohol Island State University (BISU). He also finished his Master in Agricultural Development, summa cum laude, at the same university. Currently, he is on dissertation of his Doctor of Philosophy in Community Development in the same institution.
Benjie rose from being a committee secretary and legislative staff assistant III at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) of Bohol in 2002 to Commissioner of the National Youth Commission (NYC) in 2005 and administrator of the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA) in 2015 until his term ends in February 2020.
At present he is the chairman of the YO Prime Construction and Realty Corporation based in Tagbilaran City, Bohol; managing partner of the Pasion, David, Oliva, Durias and Associates based in Quezon City; and vice president of the Institute of Budget and Governance Studies, (IBGS) Inc. also in Quezon City.
‘Father’ to many youth organizations in the country
At 22, Benjie was appointed by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as Commissioner of NYC on December 19, 2005. He holds the record as the first and only Boholano commissioner at NYC.
At the time of his appointment, he was considered as the youngest national government official in the Arroyo administration with an equivalent rank of an Assistant Secretary.
For almost six years in NYC, Benjie played as a “father” figure to many campus, church based and community youth organizations in the country whom he supported in many ways. He travelled in every corner of the country from Batanes to Tawi-tawi promoting values formation and character building to various youth leaders and youth organizations in partnership with the Presidential Commission on Values Formation and Good Citizenship Movement as well the advocacy programs on restorative justice of children in conflict with the law with the support of Consuelo Foundation and Juvenile Justice and Welfare Council.
He also managed to secure the computer literacy education and livelihood programs of the out of school youth and youth with special needs with the support of the Pag-asa Youth Association of the Philippines (PYAP) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). He also served as the NYC point person for the job generation program together with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) through the Out of School Youth Serving Towards Economic Recovery (OYSTER) Program wherein out of school youths (OSYs) are employed as road maintenance workers.
He helped push for the passage of the Local Youth Development Council, SK Reform Bill, Magna Carta for Student Rights and the Free Higher Education Bill.
Benjie is also a ‘father’ to many youth organizations in Bohol. He was elected president of the Bohol Alliance of Student Councils (BASC), a conglomeration of student councils/governments in all colleges and universities in the province; federated president of the Supreme Student Government Federation of Central Visayas State College of Agriculture, Forestry and Technology (CVSCAFT) now Bohol Island State University (BISU); member, CVSCAFT Board of Trustees representing the Supreme Student Government Federation of the five campuses of Tagbilaran, Bilar, Calape, Clarin and Candijay; president, Supreme Student Government, CVSCAFT Bilar Campus; provincial president, Pag-asa Youth Association of the Philippines (PYAP) Bohol Chapter; vice chairman, Campus Ministry-Student Catholic Action Diocesan Council; president, Campus Ministry-Student Catholic Action (CM-SCA) CVSCAFT Bilar Campus; board of rirector, Parish Youth Ministry (PYM) Diocesan Youth Council; Vicarial Youth Coordinator, Mt. Carmel Vicariate; parish coordinator, Parish Youth Ministry (PYM) Immaculate Conception Parish, Catigbian, Bohol ; youth leader, Youth for Christ (YFC) Catigbian Chapter; and president of CVSCAFT Bilar Student Cooperative.
‘Father’ of creativity and innovations
At his stint at CDA, its employees considered him as the "father" of creativity and innovations.
Foremost, the new Cooperative Development Authority Charter is a landmark legislation in cooperative regulation and development in the country. There were many doubtful Thomases among the many officials and employees of the CDA starting from its inception until in the last stage of the approval of the two houses of congress.
Benjie’s strong determination and bold move of pushing the agency’s reform bill is purposely to respond to the current challenges, opportunities and realities in the 21st century on cooperative regulation and development. The agency was strengthened in terms of its regulatory powers, additional manpower support, more developmental functions and a much closer partnership with the cooperative sector in terms of policy and program coordination through the organization of the national cooperative alliance.
The strong leadership of Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri as chairman of the Senate Committee on Cooperatives Development was instrumental for the overwhelming approval in Senate with the support also of Deputy Minority Leader Senator Bam Aquino and Senator Risa Hontiveros who is the Vice Chairperson of the said committee.
House Deputy Minority Leader Congressmen Anthony Bravo and House Committee Chairman on Cooperative Development Congressman Ben Canama were the champions at the lower house in advancing for its approval. And of course, under the leadership of Benjie in CDA together with the strong support of the cooperative sector and stakeholders, the new CDA Charter was enacted into law by virtue of Republic Act 11364.
Benjie is also the "father" of the creation of the Credit Surety Fund Department of the CDA Central Office, the creation of the CDA Region 4-A composed of the provinces of Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan also known as the MIMAROPA Region. And the man responsible in securing the Three Hundred Five Million Pesos budget under the GAA 2021 for the Construction of the new CDA Office Building in Cubao, Quezon City.
He is known as an iron hand executive of CDA by initiating the Run Against Fraudulent Cooperatives (RAFC) to go after erring cooperatives used for illegal rice importation, investment scams like Ponce scheme, tax evasion, among others. RAFC was an inter-agency coordinating platform that includes the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Anti-Fraud Unit, Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), PNP-Crime Investigation and Detection Group, and the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA).
His last innovation before his term ended at the CDA was the Coop Film Festival. A documentary program together with GMA 7, Inc. to produce short films of successful cooperatives and members in the Philippines.
Father of Catigbian’s community development
In Catigbian town, barangay officials considered Benjie as the ‘father’ of Catigbian’s community development.
Catigbian has been known as one among the center of insurgency in the province from the 60’s to the 90’s. At present, intel reports showed that there are still sightings of their presence in the remote barangays but military operatives are there to ensure that insurgency will no longer thrive again in Catigbian. It can be recalled that it was in Catigbian when the CPP-NPA-NDF Regional Spokesperson and Secretary General Silvino “Ka Bino” Clamucha was killed in a running gun-battle with government troops in the hinterlands between barangays Liboron and Maitum in 2004.
Since then, Benjie reach out to the people and the insurgency affected communities to find out the root cause of the problem.
“Unsaon man intawon Sir nga nakalimtan naman me sa gobyerno amoang kalsada guba kaayo mao ang mga taw mahaylo gyud sa NPA. In an adjacent barangays Cang-iras and Liboron, the same sentiment was raised on the road problem. A woman, once approached and told him in barangay Cang-iras, pirteng paita Sir wala me tubig mainum hilabi ug ting-init ut ting-ulan usab ma lubog ang among mga tubod. Kanus-a pa kaha me malingi ug matabangan sa atong gobyerno,” a resident in Barangay Maitum told him.
With his connections in Manila, Benjie moves heaven and earth to secure the funding of the P50-million road concreting of Triple Union-Maitum-Kang-iras Road, the P60-M concreting of Baang-Liboron Road and the P13-M Waterworks Project for LGU-Catigbian.
When he inspected the project during the construction stage, a mother approached him and said, “Sir wala jud me magtu-o nga ma semento ang amoang lugar. Abi namo ug pareha ka sa uban nga miari lang ug gipangsaadan ming tanan. Salamat kayo Sir. A grandmother also said to him, wala jud me magtoo nga usa ko motaliwan sa kalibutan makabutan me ug hinlo nga mainum nga tubig.”
To date, an additional P35-Million Waterworks project in on-going in barangays Kang-iras, Mahayag Norte and Bagtic courtesy of Bohol 1st district Rep. Edgar Chatto with the strong lobby of LGU-Catigbian under Mayor Elizabeth Mandin.
Benjie is not yet done with these barangays, he initiated the proposal for the construction and opening of new roads like the Kang-iras-Mahayag Norte Road, Baang-Sitio Binaliw (Liboron) Road, Maitum-Liboron Road, Catigbian (Maitum)-Batuan (Behind the Clouds) Road to further advance the development of the area. Alongside with the infrastructure development is a social preparation for the proposed livelihood support program on coco sugar and cacao production in the community.
He was instrumental also in several infrastructure projects in Catigbian with the help of several senators and partylist congressmen like the covered courts of barangays Baang, Ambuan, Bagtic, Candumayao, Bongbong, Causwagan Norte, Mahayag Norte and Catigbian National High School in Poblacion and multi-purpose buildings like the Poblacion Barangay Hall and Catigbian Slaughter House with a total of more than P40-M.
His efforts in Catigbian started during the time of former Mayor Boy Lurot with the full support of then Rep. Rene Relampagos and continues today.
Yet, Benjie has one more dream. He wants to be the “father” in the Halls of Congress for cooperatives, farmers and fisherfolks through KOOP KAMPI Partylist by providing policies and programs that would uplift their lives and their living conditions.
KOOP KAMPI stands for Kooperatiba Kahugpungan sa mga Mag-uuma ug Mangingisda sa Pilipinas with Rep. Anthony Bravo as its first nominee.
"Fatherhood is the best thing that could happen to me, and I’m just glad I can share my voice," he quipped.
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