The Balingoan boy who made good

"All the tribulations I’ve gone through, and all the good things that happened to me happened for a reason.”

Those are words worth retelling from the mouth of Department of Energy Undersecretary Benito L. Ranque, who gladly shared his life story at Duka Bay, a beach resort in Medina, Mis. Or. His is a success story that began with his selling fish and tira-tira (a gummy sugar treat) and puto (rice cake) at age 6. “There was a well-dressed guy who passed by me, stopped, and pulled out a wallet bulging with paper money. He said, ‘I have plenty of money. You can have plenty of money too if you work hard.’” The man did not give him money, but Benito would remember what he said, and, intrinsically industrious, he worked hard, supported himself through school, and, at the end of his struggles, was rewarded with an envied job by President Duterte.

Benito was born 59 years ago in Balingoan, a municipality two hours west of Gingoog City. His father was a bus driver plying the Cagayan de Oro-Bukidnon route. The bus had a wooden body, Usec Benito recalls. He was six when his father died, leaving his wife, a laundrywoman, Benito and three other kids. His mother remarried and had four more children, but life was no better, as there were no resources for tuition and other necessities. Somehow Benito was able to attend school, and always ended at the top of his classes. 

But how can he proceed to high school? Fortunately an uncle took him to live with his family in Wao, Lanao del Sur, where Benito enrolled as a freshman. Unfortunately the conflict between two rival gangs, the Baracuda and Ilaga, became bloody, forcing his uncle to evacuate to Cagayan de Oro. Benito was left behind, but he decided to return to Balingoan where he enrolled at the Purificacion Memorial College, but had to quit, again.

He stowed away, crouching in the bowels of a boat heading to Cebu. “I was really an adventurer,” he said. He stayed in the city for three years, washing dishes in a carinderia at Carbon market, washing dishes while standing the whole day, his feet always wet and developed rashes. He moved to the vegetable section, his task repacking coconut oil. 

He then went farming in Mati, a barangay of Claveria, raising tomatoes, and making a little money. “I really wanted to study. After three years I returned to Balingoan. Luckily I had a relative in Portulin, where I attended the barangay high school. I graduated salutatorian. “

Fortune smiled again, as the Study Now Pay Later Plan of the government enabled him to study agriculture at Xavier University in CDO, but after two years moved on to Mindanao State University and then finally to Christ the King Academy in Gingoog City where he earned his bachelor’s degree, major in English, but not before causing the nuns no small anxiety when he organized the King Student Council. While he was at Christ, he and a lovely lass from Medina named Cleofe Favio eloped; they would have five children. He later obtained a master’s in public administration at Bukidnon State University. Last year, he attended a senior executive training program at the Harvard Kennedy School. 

But it was at Mindanao State U that his star shone, he said. He was president of the agriculture student council which he represented in the university student council. He was a member of the League of Filipino Students. 

His first government job was as clerical aide of Gingoog Mayor Dodo Lugod; for work well done, he was given the Manpower Development Officer award.  

He got a swingier job when he got involved in the 1992 presidential election campaign, as mover in the presidential team of Jovito Salonga for president, and Nene Pimentel for  his running mate. Both lost. 

This was followed by his working, for 12 years, as an aide of Sen. Nene Pimentel, then for the next five years, of Sen. Koko Pimentel. 

Benito was attracted to the PDP-Laban political party which he joined in 1983, while he was still a student at Xavier. He later became deputy secretary general for Mindanao. He did a prophetically wise move by organizing a Mindanao Empowerment Summit in 2004, saying, “It’s time to have a leader from Mindanao.” (Mindanaonons have become leaders – the late Vice-President Emmanuel Pelaez of Medina, Vice-President Tito Guingona of Cabadbaran, Agusan del Norte) and the Pimentels of CDO.)

Recalls Benito: “We invited Mayor Digong as one of our guest speakers, along with Koko Pimentel, Tommy Osmena, Ruben Canoy and Cagayan Mayor ‘Dongkoy’ Emano. Digong gave a speech, people shouted, ‘You run for president!’ But Digong said, ‘No, Koko should run.’ But Koko said, “It’s you, Mayor, because you’re popular. You’re known in Davao, and you can replicate what you’ve done for Davao in the whole country.’ This time Digong said, ‘Ok, but you will be my vice president.’’’ Digong ran, but had no running mate.

Ranque talked about another run-Duterte-run initiative. “I was a member of Marco Polo 15.  We met at Marco Polo hotel. You remember, Marco Polo was an adventurer, what we were doing was adventurous. We convinced Digong to run, he accepted our challenge. He said we should continue doing what we were supposed to be doing. He told us, ‘If you have problems, go to Bong Go. After we got out of the hotel, I said, “Let’s call our group Marco Polo 15.”

After the 2016 presidential election, nearly all the Marco Polo 15 members were awarded government positions. Among them: Ranque, who got the second top DOE position. And, to name a few, John Castriciones, secretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform; JV Hinlo, Land Bank, Noel Feriangco, Urban Poor, and Rani Bai Dilangalen, undersecretary, Department of Agriculture.

Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi assigned Ranque, as chair of the Power Energy Infrastructure cluster of BIMP-EAGA (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines-East Asean Growth Area). Ranque told me part of his vision is to see the construction of a petrochemical plant and promote renewable energy like hydro electric, biomass, wind and ocean energy projects in Mindanao. 

He said it’s time that the Odiongan hydroelectric project of Oriental Energy and Power Generation Corp. is rendered operational as early as possible as this will promote cheaper electricity in  Gingoog (where periodic brownouts are taking place), and attract foreign and local investments that will generate jobs and improve the way and quality of life of the people in the city and its surrounding vicinities.  

He further emphasized the need for the  promotion and cooperation in the application of local and foreign technology in hydro power and energy development in the country.

For this reason, Ranque submitted to President Duterte a plan to be certified in Congress, the creation of an Energy Research and Engineering Development Authority which will develop prototypes of locally produced technology. “What’s happening is that there are many research theses but these are only archived, because there’s no authority to develop them into commercially viable energy project instruments.”

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