Embalming was my first job - Vizcaya vice governor

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya ,Philippines  – Had he flunked the bar exam, it is likely that Vice Gov. Jose Gambito would have made it big in the funeral service industry.

The vice governor’s family is a household name in the funeral business here, considering that his late father Napoleon was the first to put up a funeral parlor in the province – the Gambito Funeral Homes.

Gambito is himself a licensed embalmer and the job helped get him through college and law school.

“This was actually my first real job while going to school, since our family was practically the first to put up a funeral parlor in the province,” said Gambito.

“I was able to save money to study law at the University of the East because of it. My parents always taught us the importance of hard work in all our endeavors,” he said.

Gambito admits their family’s business and his being an embalmer is what endeared him among the masses, and no doubt, this is what catapulted him to what he is today.

“I found out that funeral business and politics also jell. From womb to tomb, everybody comes to us. When a poor constituent asked for help for his wife’s giving birth, usually they come to us for help. When someone died, as a part owner of our funeral business, they come to me to request for discount,” he said.