Labella: Politicians should look up to Scoutmaster Damazo

CDN Digital photo | Delta Letigio

CEBU CITY, Philippines –Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella urged politicians in Cebu to emulate the discipline and the service of the late Scoutmaster Sergio P. Damazo, Jr., to whom an unnamed bridge in F. Vestil Street in Barangay Mambaling was named after.

Labella led the naming ceremony of the bridge on Monday morning, September 30, 2019, witnessed by members of the scouts of Cebu City and the family of the Damazo.

Read: Bridge in Mambaling now officially the Scoutmaster Sergio P. Damazo, Jr. Bridge

The mayor said the naming of the bridge would perpetually remind the Cebuanos of the service that an excellent scoutmaster such as Damazo could give, something everyone should try to follow.

“For me, he is an epitome of humility as a scoutmaster and an educator. Seldom can we find nowadays politicians, businessmen who are imbued with the sense of humility, which for me is the mother of all virtues,” said Labella.

The bridge in F. Vestil Street in Barangay Mambaling, Cebu City that is now officially known as the Scoutmaster Sergio P. Damazo, Jr. Bridge. CDN Digital photo | Delta Letigio

Labella also recounted his own experience of Scoutmaster Damazo, who he met in his younger years in the Sirao Mountains.

The mayor claimed that Damazo, who was a scoutmaster in then Colegio del San Jose (now the University of San Jose-Recoletos), would not only teach his own scouts, but would share the knowledge and life skills he knew to all the scouts.

This memory was fondly remembered by Labella because he came from a public school and did not have access to the same kind of equipment as those scouts from the private schools. Yet Scoutmaster Damazo patiently treated him and his fellow scouts equal to the private school scouts.

Labella said this kind of humility should be a reminder to every politician in the country, for public service grounded on humility is a service that is “truly” for the people.

“I hope that his example would [remind] us, particularly politicians, that life, after all, is not about how great you are or what kind of accomplishment you have. But it is about how you deal with your fellow beings,” he said.

The mayor said the kind of educator Damazo was produced numerous professionals, soldiers, lawyers, policemen, among others, who were disciplined and good citizens of the country.

On Monday, a marker was revealed that would officially name the bridge to Sergio Damazo, Jr. Bridge in Barangay Mambaling following the approval of the ordinance on June 2019 by the 14th City Council.

The naming of the bridge is also in line with the 10th year death anniversary of Damazo, the required number of years for the Cebu City Historical Affairs Commission (CHAC) for an individual to be viable for naming of streets.

Scoutmaster Damazo was born on February 20, 1932. He became a faculty member of the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) in the 1950s when he also became the school’s scoutmaster.

He was most known for helping the detainees of the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center to enter and practice scouting within the center.

In 1994, he was one of the awardees of the Ten Outstanding Scoutmasters of the Philippines at the Heroes Hall in Malacañang Palace at the country’s capital.

He passed away in 2009 at age 77 years old. /bmjo