Photo shows FICOBank President Herminio G. Ocampo taking his Oath of Office on February 5, 2010, before Sta. Rita, Pampanga Regional Trial Court Judge Janice Yulo-Antero (left) in the presence of his wife, Lydia Ocampo (3rd from left), his son John (4th from left), and his unnamed siblings.

By an Act of Divine Providence, Mr. Herminio G. Ocampo, President and CEO of FICOBank, was proclaimed by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) as successor of the Butil Farmers Party Rep. Leonila V. Chavez in an en banc resolution unanimously signed by the six commissioners on February 3, 2010.

The late lawmaker, who succumbed to a severe stroke on January 28, 2010 at the Medical City, was the first nominee of BUTIL and has been a member of the 12th, 13th and 14th Congress. At present, the second nominee of the party for the May 2007 elections is the Hon. Congressman Agapito H. Guanlao, already an incumbent member of the House of Representatives. As a result of the party-list election in 2007, and under the law, BUTIL is entitled to two seats in the Lower House of Congress. With the vacancy, the nominee who is next in line becomes the legal successor for the seat. Mr. Ocampo is the third nominee of BUTIL.

The Butil Farmers Party is a party-list organization representing the peasantry in Luzon. It was organized in 1997 by the leaders of Sanduguan or the National Farmers Supreme Council and serves as its electoral wing. It first participated in the congressional elections under the 1987 Philippine Constitution. During the 12th congress, the party had two seats, occupied by Benjamin A. Cruz and Leonila V. Chavez. In the next election, it got 3.3742% of the votes entitling it to one seat (Benjamin A. Cruz). After only a few months, Cruz died. His seat was filled by Chavez. The party supported the candidacy of the incumbent president of the republic during the last presidential election.

As FICOBank President Ocampo assumes a new role in the halls of congress, he is expected to bring to the job long and fruitful years of experience with the cooperative movement and cooperative banking. His involvement in cooperatives started in 1985 when he became the manager of the Mallig Samahang Nayon Area Marketing Cooperative. He is also a long-time director of the Cooperative Insurance System of the Philippines and the Cooperative Union of the Philippines. He is the current president of the Cooperative Banks Federation of the Philippines since 2003.

He became FICOBank’s Chairman of the Board in 1992 until 2002, the longest time ever that a director held such position in the Bank. He later became its President and CEO in 2002 up to this day. With him at the helm, FICOBank grew into what it is today, one of the two billionaire cooperative banks in the Philippines. He is widely acknowledged as the chief architect of the Bank’s enormous transformation into its present position as the number one cooperative bank in the entire country in terms of financial performance. Numerous awards and recognitions both local and international have been bestowed unto it.

Mr. Ocampo has taken his Oath of Office on February 5, 2010, before Sta. Rita, Pampanga Regional Trial Court Judge Janice Yulo-Antero. As the newest member of the august body, he will be serving the remainder of the term of office of his late party mate. The same dedication, concern and support for peasants and cooperatives will be expected from him.

The development campaign of Hon. Representative Herminio G. Ocampo is “Butil ng Pagbabago at Pag-unlad sa Tulong ng KKK,” which highlights: (1) Kaunlaran (prosperity) through project-based funding programs; (2) Karunungan (knowledge) through hundreds of scholarship grants to deserving children of poor farmers; and (3) Kalusugan (health) through the regular conduct of medical and dental missions for FICOBank’s approximately 70,000 farmer-members.