Roel Degamo

Degamo started his political career in his hometown of Siaton, serving three consecutive terms in the Sangguniang Bayan (municipal council) from 1998 to 2007. He concurrently served as president of the Provincial Councilors League (PCL) of Negros Oriental from 2004 to 2007, making him an ex officio member of the Negros Oriental Provincial Board. He was also elected as Region VII chairperson, which entitled him to a seat in the National Board of the Philippine Councilor's League.[4]

In the 2010 elections he ran for a regular seat in the Negros Oriental Provincial Board, and won with the highest number of votes, representing the 3rd legislative district of the province. Degamo assumed the position of vice-governor when vice governor-elect Agustin Perdices assumed the gubernatorial position vacated by the elected governor Emilio Macias II, who died before taking his oath of office for another term.[9][14] However, Governor Perdices died in January 2011 and in accordance with the Local Government Code, Degamo became the governor.[4][9]

After serving the remainder of Perdices' term, Degamo was elected governor on his own right for three consecutive terms: in 2013 (under PDP–Laban),[9][15] in 2016 (under National Unity Party),[16][17] and in 2019 (under Nacionalista Party).[18][19]

Degamo had received three dismissal orders from the Office of the Ombudsman during his tenure from 2011 to 2022:

• In 2016, the Office of the Ombudsman ordered Degamo's dismissal for alleged calamity fund misuse from Typhoon Sendong in 2011 worth P480 million, but he was able to secure a 60-day Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) from the CA blocking the suspension.[20]
• In 2017, Degamo was suspended for three months for alleged usurpation of calamity funds from the 6.9 magnitude earthquake in 2012. Then vice governor Mark Macias took over the governorship in an acting capacity for 90 days.[21][22]
• Also in late 2017, while Degamo was serving his suspension, the Office of the Ombudsman issued another dismissal order against Degamo after he was found guilty of grave misconduct over alleged misuse of ₱10 million worth of intelligence funds in 2013. While on suspension, Degamo was able to secure another TRO from the CA on January 11, 2018 to block the dismissal order but the Supreme Court dissolved the TRO on November 13, 2019. However, it was later revealed that the CA already resolved the case and cleared Degamo as early as September 2019, hindering once again his dismissal.[23][24][25]

Degamo, as provincial governor, continued programs of his predecessors, along with other projects in his first days in office. His administration had a banner program, HELP (Health, Education and Environment, Livelihood Programs, Projects for Peace and Development).[26] Among his projects were the construction of additional classrooms, upgrading of community primary hospitals, and construction of support infrastructures for local tourist spots, as well as sports development in the province.[27]

Among his accomplishments at the hospitals were additional facilities at the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital including an oxygen generating plant, a Malasakit Center and an Eye Center, as well as an Emergency Maternal Neonatal Care facility, one of a total of 34 such facilities established by the provincial government.[26] A program initiated in 2019 successfully increased the rate of access to sanitary toilet by 9%. In the same year, the Department of Health (DOH) declared Negros Oriental as one of the 10 malaria-free provinces in the country based on standards of the World Health Organization.[28] In 2022, the province received recognitions from the DOH for its projects on medical services.[29]

Adhering to the Paris Agreement, in 2018, Degamo issued an executive order mandating the use of renewable energy in the province and imposed a moratorium on coal, which he strongly opposed.[28][10] As a result, the province became the first country's sub-national government member of the Powering Past Coal Alliance.[28]

Fifty-one local Marine Protected Areas were established in the province.[28]

With Negros Oriental still the only province in Central Visayas to face the problem of communist insurgency, his administration started development projects. The province was the first in the country to establish its Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict, in 2019, with Degamo as chairperson.[28] More than a month prior to his death, Degamo said that they were 80% "towards gearing a zero insurgency."[30][31] The task force reportedly proposed the construction of a primary hospital in Tamlang Valley for the residents of Santa Catalina, Pamplona, and Valencia, as well as a social housing project for former communist insurgents, to address insurgency problems.[30]

In 2019, the province ranked as one of the country's top destinations, while Dumaguete was recognized as one of the world's best places to retire.[28]

Degamo, running under Nacionalista Party, sought re-election in 2022 for a fourth consecutive term after the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) controversially allowed him to run despite completing three straight terms claiming that his three terms in office were interrupted a number of times following suspension and dismissal orders by the Office of the Ombudsman,[32][33][34] but lost to Bayawan City mayor Pryde Henry Teves.[35][36] Teves took his oath of office on June 30, 2022, however, Teves and Degamo had a brief standoff for hours as Degamo refused to vacate the office, but eventually conceded and exited after negotiations.[37]

Earlier, on December 16, 2021, a COMELEC division granted the petition filed by Degamo declaring another gubernatorial candidate, a certain Ruel Degamo, whose real name is Grego Gaudia, as a nuisance.[35][36] However, the almost-imitated name (Ruel Degamo) remained on the official ballot pending a final COMELEC en banc ruling by election day. On September 1, 2022, the commission denied the motion for reconsideration filed by Gaudia, upholding its earlier ruling.[38]

Later that month, the COMELEC, deciding with finality on the declaration about Gaudia, moved to nullify the victory of Teves. The votes garnered by Gaudia would be credited to Degamo, surpassing those by Teves; therefore enough to win.[36][38] Degamo was proclaimed on October 3,[39] and yet to report to the provincial capitol to assume the governorship once again.[12]

Degamo took his oath before President Bongbong Marcos at the Malacañang Palace on October 5. Meanwhile, Teves, refusing to step down, had filed an appeal before the Supreme Court (SC) to contest the latest COMELEC ruling, which was expected to be decided by October 11.[40][1][41]

However, on that date, the SC had not acted yet on the appeal; Teves later voluntarily relinquished the governorship.[42][2]

On February 14, 2023, the SC en banc dismissed the petitions separately filed by Teves, as well as by Gaudia; thus, the COMELEC's declaration of Degamo's victory was affirmed.[43][44]