The U-Theory Principle behind the

Transformative Leadership of a Rebel Heart

Angeli Joyce P. Barafon

Abstract
This chapter presents a narrative inquiry into the leadership style of Leoncio B.
Evasco Jr., former Cabinet Secretary of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte - the 16th
President of the Republic of the Philippines. It endeavors to understand leadership
values comparatively with the U-theory approach embodied by Evasco over the
course of his personal and professional growth starting from priesthood towards
joining the Communist Party of the Philippines into being a prisoner during the 1972
martial law period and then becoming the chief of staff of former Mayor, Rodrigo
Duterte, a stint which prompted the start of his transition to public service until he
became the Cabinet Secretary in 2016.
The inquisition revolves around the juxtaposition of the life of Evasco and the
“five movements of the U-Process: co-initiating, co-sensing, presenting, co-creating and
co-evolving” (Scharmer, 2007). The underlying supposition is that, in order to
understand the leadership values of Evasco, one must go back and understand his
province and life experiences which all formed the principles that is actually a U-
theory journey. These very principles are later woven and institutionalized at the
Performance and Projects Monitoring Office (PPMO) of the Office of the Cabinet
Secretary, Office of the President. The chapter seeks to present 1) who is Leoncio B.
Evasco Jr. and what role does he play in the unprecedented victory of one of the
most intriguing presidents since Ferdinand Marcos Sr.?; 2) what was the campaign
strategy that catapulted a former mayor in the southern part of the country into
presidency? and 3) how was the vision of participatory governance institutionalized
as part of the operational framework of the administration in its national
development and security agenda?

Relevance to National Security Administration

National defense leaders and civilian officials from different sectors either
government or non-government are expected to possess dynamic leadership skills
both from experience and formal training/schooling. Understanding leadership skills
requires observations from occurrences that involves significant shifts or shakes in a
system and how such leadership skills were applied that contributed to an effective
organizational management of people, institution or any other condition. To be an
effective leader, one must be able to take the challenge of having prodigious

1
understanding of the strategy, intelligence and expertise that are applied in different
challenges of time. The unique leadership journey of Evasco presents an interesting
evolution of the revolutionary leader in government fatefully laden with a
Development and Security dimension.

Keywords
U-theory, Rebellion, Transformative Leadership, Participatory Governance

Disclaimer
The views and opinion reflected in this chapter are based on the personal bias
of the writer as part of the narrative inquisition into the topic.

“Narrative inquiry is a ubiquitous practice in that, Human beings

have lived out and told stories about that living for as long as we could
talk. And then we have talked about the stories we tell for almost as long.
These lived and told stories and the talk about the stories are one of the
ways that we fill our world with meaning and enlist one another’s
assistance in building lives and communities. What feels new is the
emergence of narrative methodologies in the field of social science
research”. (Clandinin & Rosiek, 2007, p. 35)1.

The writer served as the Director for Climate Change Adaptation, Mitigation
and Disaster Risk Reduction Cluster (CCAM-DRR) unit of the Performance and
Projects Management Office (PPMO) of the Office of the Cabinet Secretary for the
period October 2016-November 2018, when Leoncio B. Evasco Jr., was then the
Cabinet Secretary. During the writer’s service to the OCS, she was able to draft
several speeches for the Cabinet Secretary drawing it from the personal
conversations and guidance by Evasco himself. Likewise, several activities associated
with their service to the Office of the President enabled the writer to closely observe
the management style of Evasco. Prior to joining the team of Evasco in 2016, the
writer was able to work at the Provincial Planning and Development Office (PPDO) of
the Province of Bohol from 2006-2010, around that time, Evasco was mayor in one of
the towns of the province. The professional and personal connection of the writer
became the basis of the paper’s inference.

1
Clandinin, D. J., & Huber, J. (in press). Narrative inquiry. In B. McGaw, E. Baker, & P. P. Peterson (Eds.),
International encyclopedia of education (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Elsevier. Also see
http://www.mofet.macam.ac.il/amitim/iun/CollaborativeResearch/Documents/NarrativeInquiry.pdf

2
Scope and limitation
In analyzing the character of Evasco, the paper draws its assumptions from the
parallel cultural and historical events of the environment he experienced over his
lifetime. These sociological factors are critical elements in the value formation of an
individual. The paper does not present a chronological order of Evasco’s life from
birth to current state but instead attempts to conjecture relevant periods of his life
and how these became the foundation of his principles interwoven in of each of the
five movements of the U-Process.

Background
The result of the presidential election last May 9, 2016 was undeniably one of
the most astounding marvels in Philippine history. President Rodrigo Duterte’s
victory garnered a remarkable record of “firsts” – among others, the first from
Mindanao (the second largest of the three major group of islands in the Philippines)
and the first elected president to rise directly from local political office. At age 71,
President Duterte is the oldest candidate elected to the presidency. Yet these records
of firsts were not necessarily the only intriguing part about this elected candidate. It
was the iconoclastic background of his political platform beginning with his persona
– a self-professed non-religious person in a highly Christian populated country,
Duterte was not afraid to speak against the institution of the church or even the gods
people pray to. He would roll up his long sleeves defying protocols in formal or other
diplomatic meetings. He curses, he openly calls out women that he finds attractive at
any given circumstance, he openly challenges viewpoints of the Commission on
Human Rights, he blatantly expresses his annoyance and disagreement with anyone
even the former U.S. President Obama and continually pronounces his appreciation
for China and Russia, both having contrasting geopolitical behaviors from the USA –
the country whom for the longest time have exercised its strategic influence over the
Philippines with policies like the Mutual Defense Treaty forged since the 1950s
among others.
President Duterte became an icon for radical change. His anointing was a
tipping point from a long period of frustration. It could be regarded as the perfect
timing as a result of the evolution of social marketing in the period of social media,
the growing disparity of urban and rural mindset and the solidification of the
legitimacy of the overseas population votes.
But perhaps almost equally fascinating to know is the man behind
Duterte’s campaign who made him a brand. What was his social marketing

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strategy and how different is this administration’s “systemic change” trickling
down to the masses - whom Duterte believes first and foremost should be able
to directly communicate with the Office of the President?
Former Cabinet Secretary Evasco was the national campaign manager of
President Duterte. The latter takes pride in referring to Evasco as a man with strong
principles, which Duterte claims is the reason why Evasco earned his trust and
admiration. The two met in 1970s when Duterte, then prosecutor of Davao city
absolved Evasco after being arrested and detained on account of insurgency. During
that time, Evasco, a priest, was known to have joined the underground rebel group –
the Communist Party of the Philippines with the New People’s Army as its armed
cohort (CPP-NPA). Evasco was later caught and became a martial law prisoner. At the
wake of Philippine revolution in 1986, Duterte became the mayor of Davao city. He
then made Evasco his chief of staff and for the next 22 years of his mayoralty, Duterte
assigned Evasco to different tasks including among others becoming the officer in
charge of the City Engineer’s Office.
Clearly, President Duterte saw something special in Evasco and perhaps in
understanding Evasco, we will be able to understand the tale of two leaders who
have now ‘co-forged’ a revolutionary path in transformative governance.

1st Phase Co-initiating, listening to life’s calling: Evasco’s priesthood and rebellion
The U trajectory as discussed in the earlier chapter begins with the traveler’s
disruptive change from a personal, individual-centered approach. In his book, Theory
U: Leading from the Future as it Emerges, Otto Scharmer describes the five
movements of the U-process which begins with the co-initiating and co-sensing as
the portion of the U illustration that is going down, and then presencing, would be at
the bottom and followed by co-creating and co-evolving as the other side of the U
figure going upwards. Scharmer describes this as moving "first into intimate
connection with the world and to a place of inner knowing that can emerge from
within, followed by bringing forth the new, which entails discovering the future by
doing."
The formative years of personal reflection of the traveler in this case, Evasco,
began at the Seminario Mayor de San Carlos in Cebu. Here, he began the first among
the five phases of the U, the co-initiating stage. This is the time when the individual is
believed to 1) attend or listen to what life calls you to do; 2) connect or listen to and
dialogue with the interesting players in the field and 3) co-initiate a diverse core
group that inspires a common intention (Scharmer, 2007).

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 The seminary where he studied Philosophy in 1966 was an institution of
higher learning established in the nineteenth century. Numerous lay people have
also enrolled in this school even though its targeted primary recipients are members
of the clergy and priests. It was later called the Seminario-Colegio de San Carlos. The
institution’s mission is to promote the spiritual, moral and intellectual formation of its
students by providing them with a basic integrated knowledge of biblical revelation
and Christian doctrine, considered in the context of contemporary problems and
issues, in a manner relevant to the local culture.2

Priesthood. The vocation chosen by Evasco was not a surprising feat especially from
someone who was born in Bohol, a province located just southeast of Cebu in the
Central Visayas. The islands are separated by the Cebu Strait. Meanwhile the
northeast of Bohol is bordered by Leyte, these are the regional provinces where the
Spanish conquistadores entered in the 16th century marking the beginnings of
Christianization in the Visayas region. By the 17th century, Visayans were already
joining religious missions with even teenagers becoming catechists to other
countries. Boholanos have long been known to be welcoming people. At the arrival
of the Spanish-Portuguese fleet led by Juan Miguel de Legaspi, he was met with
honors by the leader of the community, Datu Sikatuna who immediately forged a
treaty of friendship with them. The treaty of friendship called Sandugo3 is now being
celebrated as a major festival in the Province of Bohol celebrated with a street
dancing reimagining the blood compact ceremony.
In 1595, Christianity in Bohol was solidified with the coming of the Jesuits and
the Recollects who found a peaceful and obedient flock among Boholanos.
Boholanos are known to have taken Christianity at the very core of their
consciousness. This was a fundamental identity of the people which in turn made the
province known to be with the greatest number of priests and nuns in the country.
For a time, it was a common thing to have at least one priest or a nun in a household
for Bohol. Evasco’s call to priesthood was an essential milestone of his fundamental
identity. He finished his Theology in the same seminary in 1970. As a priest he was
assigned to different diocese and municipalities in the province among others the
municipality of Dauis, a town dedicated to the La Señora de la Asuncion or Our Lady
of the Assumption. The church was believed to have been established in 18th
century. The pilgrimage to Dauis is among the widely practiced tradition by the

2
Seminario Mayor de San Carlos, Faculty of Theology. See https://sites.google.com/site/smsc2009ph/school-of-theology
3 The Sandugo was a blood compact, performed in the island of Bohol in the Philippines, between
the Spanish explorer Miguel López de Legazpi and Datu Sikatuna the chieftain of Bohol on March 16, 1565, to
seal their friendship as part of the tribal tradition. This is considered as the first treaty of friendship between the
Spaniards and Filipinos. "Sandugo" is a Visayan word which means "one blood". See http://bohol.gov.ph/

5
province with people coming from other municipalities visiting the church especially
during the Feast of Our Lady of the Assumption in August. A rare feature of the
church is the well located at the foot of the altar believed to have healing power.
People are astonished finding the water tasting fresh despite the proximity of the
well to the sea. A lot of miraculous stories of blessings behold the Patroness and to
this day, people continue to seek her intercession.
Another municipality where Evasco was assigned as a priest was in Baclayon.
The parish is dedicated to the La Purisima Concepcion de la Virgen Maria or the
Immaculate Concepcion. This is the oldest Christian settlement in the province being
the first established by the Jesuit priests Juan de Torres and Gabriel Sánchez in 1596.
The stone church is also considered as one of the oldest stone churches in the
Philippines. Finally, the last municipality where Evasco was assigned before being
captured by the military was in Catigbian, located in the interior part of Bohol. This
was an entirely different environment for Evasco having been assigned to Dauis and
Baclayon, both coastal municipalities. Like Baclayon, the parish in Catigbian is also
dedicated to the Immaculate Conception. Also, a predominantly Catholic town, the
people practices fervently the 9-day novena prayers in honor of the feast of the
Patroness and a long queue of devotees join the processions filling the church.

Rebel-priest. It was during his assignment in Catigbian when soldiers came to the
convent to presumably arrest him for being suspected as a member of the CPP-NPA.
Evasco was not arrested during that time. It could be surmised that the conversion of
Evasco was inevitable as he lived in Catigbian. The town was among the villages of
new resettlement for the rebels after suppression of the Dagohoy Rebellion. The
longest revolution against the Spaniards in Philippine history, the Dagohoy Revolt is
also a core fabric in the Boholano identity. For eighty-five years (1977-1892), people
rose up in arms against the Spanish authorities in Bohol. The ironic part of this
revolution is that it was triggered by the refusal of a Jesuit priest to give a Christian
burial to the brother of Dagohoy. This was the tipping point from the strings of
events that made Dagohoy vow to revolt against tyranny and the Spanish injustice.
He stopped rendering the required forced labor or paying tribute to the Spaniards.
Together with his friends and relatives, they fought for their freedom from this
oppression and called upon the rest of the Boholanos to do the same. The appeal
was answered by about 3,000 Boholanos who joined him in what would be one of
the most iconic revolt in the history of the country. Incidentally, another significant
revolt during the Spanish era prior to Dagohoy’s revolt was the Tamblot Uprising. It
was led by a babylan or a native priest named Tamblot.

6
Contextualizing the call to rebellion.
When Evasco ran for Governor of the
Province of Bohol in 2019, his campaign
team designed a very explicit logo
containing the words - “Ang tinuod nga
Bol-anon” or The Real Boholano depicting
the identity of Bol-anons4 to a revolution.
In the picture (see right), the photo
at the center is Francisco Dagohoy5 against
the map of Bohol. The words ABAKA
encircles the photo which stands for
Alyansang Bol-anon Alang sa Kausaban (Alliance of Boholanos for Change). This
represents the iconic revolt attributed to the province.
The history of rebellion in Bohol can be traced to two prominent uprising as
mentioned earlier: first was Tamblot’s revolt (1621-22). An excerpt from the Volume I
of the Philippine Political and Cultural History by Gregorio F. Zaide copyrighted
1949 describes the revolt below.

“This disturbance was incited by a Filipino babaylan or priest named

Tamblot, who exhorted the people to return to the faith of their forefathers
and convinced them "that the time has come when they could free
themselves from the oppression of the Spaniards, inasmuch as they were
assured of the aid of their ancestors and diuatas, or gods."
Around 2,000 Boholanos responded to Tamblot's war call and began
the uprising at a time when most of the Jesuit fathers, the spiritual
administrators of the island, were in Cebu celebrating the feast of the
beatification of St. Xavier.
News of the revolt reached Cebu, and immediately the alcalde-
mayor, Don Juan de Alcarazo rushed an expedition to Bohol, consisting of
50 Spaniards and more than 1,000 Filipinos. On New Year's Day, 1622, the
government forces began the campaign against the rebels. In a fierce battle,
fought in a blinding rain, Tamblot and his followers were crushed. The
gallant valor of the Cebuan soldiers in this fight gave victory to Spain.”6

4
Another term for Boholano or people living in the Province of Bohol, Philippines
5
He was a Filipino revolutionary who is famously know for leading the longest revolt in the Philippine history.
He as born Francisco Sendrijas in 1740.
6
Also see Readings from Bohol's History http://www.aenet.org/bohol/boholhis.htm

7
 The second revolt which will then be branded as the “longest revolt in the
Philippine history” is the Dagohoy Revolt 1744 to 1829. Likewise, an excerpt from the
Volume I of the Philippine Political and Cultural History by Gregorio F.
Zaide copyrighted 1949 is presented in the succeeding page describing the said
events.
“In 1744 the island of Bohol became once more the arena of a
serious insurrection against Spain. In that year Father Gaspar Morales,
Jesuit curate of Inabangan, ordered a constable to capture a man who had
abandoned his Christian religion. The brave constable pursued the fugitive,
but the later resisted and killed him. His corpse was brought to town.
Father Morales refused to give the constable Christian burial
because he had died in a duel and this was banned by the Church.
Francisco Dagohoy, brother of the deceased, became so infuriated at
the priest that he instigated the people to rise in arms. The signal of the
uprising was the killing of Father Guiseppe Lamberti, Italian Jesuit curate
of Jagna, on January 24, 1744. Shortly afterwards Father Morales was
killed by Dagohoy. The rebellion rolled over the whole island like a tropical
typhoon. Bishop Miguel Lino de Espeleta of Cebu, who exercised
ecclesiastical authority over Bohol, tried vainly to mollify the rebellious
Boholanos.
Dagohoy defeated the Spanish-Filipino forces sent against him. He
established a free government in the mountains, and had 3,000 followers,
who subsequently increased to 20,000. The patriots remained unsubdued
in their mountain’s stronghold, and, even after Dagohoy's death, continued
to defy Spanish power. Twenty Spanish governors-general, from Gasper de
la Torre (1739-45) to Juan Antonio Martinez (1822-25), tried to quell the
rebellion and failed. In 1825, General Mariano Ricafort (1825-30), a kind
and able administrator, became governor-general of the Philippines. Upon
his order, Alcade-mayor Jose Lazaro Cairo, at the head of 2,200 Filipino-
Spanish troops and several batteries, invaded Bohol on May 7, 1827. The
brave Boholanos resisted fiercely. Alcade-mayor Cairo won several
engagements but failed to crush the rebellion. In April 1828, another
Spanish expedition under Captain Manuel Sanz landed in Bohol. After
more than a year of hard campaign, he finally subdued the patriots. By
August 31, 1829, the rebellion had ceased. Governor Ricafort, with
chivalric magnanimity, pardoned 19,420 survivors and permitted them to

8
 live in new villages at the lowlands. These villages are now the towns of
Batuanan, Cabulao, Catigbian, and Vilar.
Dagohoy will always live in the pages of Philippine history, not only
as a good brother and a heroic man, but also as a leader of the longest
Filipino insurrection on record. His revolt lasted 85 years (1744-1829).”7

When the revolt ended, resettlement towns were formed where the captured
and surrendered Boholanos were relocated. Among these towns are Balilihan,
Batuanan, Cabulao, Canangay, Manclao, Catigbian, and Vilar. Some discourses may
have described the retreat of the remaining revolutionaries as a defeat to a hopeless
cause. But these historical “DNA” would eventually become a backbone to post-
colonial uprising which would now be labelled as the insurgency era of the province.

Post-colonial insurgency in Bohol. While Evasco was not apprehended in the

parish where he served in Catigbian town, his ultimate trap happened after fleeing to
Mindanao, the 3rd cluster of islands of the Philippines. There in 1983, while officiating
a wedding for a comrade in Midsayan, North Cotabato, he was arrested by the
Philippine Army. Among those who got arrested with him got summary executions.
Evasco was then subjected to torture. This was the Martial Law Era.
Amnesty International (AI) as cited by historian Michael Charleston Chua who
published a study entitled, "TORTYUR: Human Rights Violations During The Marcos
Regime," estimated the horrors of the Martial Law in the Philippines with a total of
70,000 people imprisoned and another 34,000 tortured while 3,240 were killed.
Prior to the declaration of the Martial Law in 1972, the New People’s Army was
formed in 1969 with the recorded first violence taking place in 1971. Former
members of the Hukbong Mapagpalaya ng Bayan collaborated with Jose Maria
Sison, founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines. Another key player in the
coalition is the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) which comprised
agricultural and trade unions, indigenous rights groups, leftist political parties and
other social and economic justice organizations. The CPP-NPA-NDF rebellion in the
Philippines is now the longest ongoing insurgency/conflict in the country even
receiving support from other international groups who support similar cause. Evasco
was profiled by the military to be among the “upper echelon” of what would then
become the most prominent rebel group in the Philippines.

7
ibid

9
Several strategies beyond violence are being done by rebel groups. These tactics are
believed to be related in solidifying their reputation and legitimacy not only in the
local country where they are rooted but also in the international community. As
described in Arves et.al (2019), “How powerful states (and their publics) view rebels
can affect their chances of international recognition, inclusion in peace talks, and
whether they are eventually successful at achieving their objectives”.8

The dawn of the Communist Party of the Philippines. It can be inferred that the
CPP has espoused the principles of Mao Zedong, the Chinese revolutionary who later
became the founding father of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The Maoist
thought is believed to be anchored in Marxism and Leninism, whereby it seeks to
establish social and economic equality of all members of society from a socialist state
developing eventually into communism. Mao’s strategy to organize a revolution
through a people’s war was adopted by the CPP group in the 1960s. Like Mao’s
assumption in which he believes that the reaction from the rural base can accumulate
enough strength to capture the cities, the CPP-NPA-NDF group envisions to
overthrow the administrative government of the Philippines imploring guerilla
warfare as part of their strategy mobilizing and radicalizing the beliefs and attitudes
of the “grass root” strata of society triggering the cry of social injustice among the
poor. Similarly, the NPA is inspired by the China’s liberation army, in which its model
strategy while waging the war in the archipelago is to surround the cities from the
rural/countryside where their political power can exist. It was obvious therefore that
the NPA would advocate for land reform as their principal agenda and battle cry, stir
the grass root society and call for independence and democracy.
Land reform has been an immemorial struggle in the Philippines since the first
colonizers. People in the grass root society were fighting against this inequality at the
beginning of the formation of the haciendas- an encomienda system of plantations.
The encomienda system is a reward system for the Spanish conquerors allowing
labor of groups e.g. indigenous people to be held in perpetuity by the grant holder
called encomendero. Naturally even after the fall of the colonizers, those people who
stayed in power who worked closely with the Spanish during their time in the
Philippines, became the oligarchs owning vast number of lands in the country and
adhering to cheap labor coming from the poorest of their community to toil the land
who would later become their perpetual tenants. These people will eventually incur
substantial amount of debts to their landowners because of very low income which

8
Rebel tactics and external public opinion. Stephen Arves1, Kathleen Gallagher Cunningham1,2 and Caitlin
McCulloch1. 2019. Also see https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2053168019877032

10
will not afford them to buy necessities. In turn, they will continue to provide labor
with almost nothing in return. The wealth disparity in the Philippines was growing
with the few richest families controlling the country’s gross domestic product. For
this reason, it was a ripe opportunity for the CPP-NPA-NDF to recruit the laborers of
these vast lands to rise against the unfair system. The structure of the rebel group is
designed with the CPP providing guidance to the NPA and the NDF. It represents the
political leadership to the revolutionary movement maintaining the NPA as the
armed group and the NDF as the community organizers who will build the mass
movement by organizing these various labor groups and other sectoral organizations
banking on their social injustices experiences in order to rise together and overthrow
the government. However, as the group gained power and strength, Martial law was
declared by the dictator President, Ferdinand Marcos who launched rigorous military
operations to eliminate the rebel groups. Perhaps the government was falling short
in its strategy to curb the notorious rebel group even as it launched a more
comprehensive and coordinated counter insurgency program called OPLAN
Katatagan or steadfastness which aimed to neutralize the political structure of the
CPP which was obviously getting stronger and continuously gained size and
influence. The government however failed to address the root cause of the battle cry
of the peasants, in that, there were still no comprehensive laws and programs
addressing land reform.
The success of the People Power Revolution in 1985 overthrowing the Marcos
regime was not necessarily attributed to the CPP-NPA-NDF. But such revolution was
clearly anchored among others on the very same social injustices that the CPP-NPA-
NDF are strongly building upon to stir and trigger from the grass roots in order to
fight the administration. Following that era was the election of President Corazon
Aquino who became the iconic restorer of democracy. It was during her
administration that the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law would then be passed.
The Republic Act No. 6657 was an act “Instituting a Comprehensive Agrarian Reform
Program to Promote Social Justice and Industrialization. This could have been clearly
the answer to the cry of the peasants. This was hope. The program was obviously
intended to strike the core issue of the social problem of injustice. CPP-NPA-NDF
should have by now supported the government, right? Unfortunately, to this day the
battle continues for them and whether the election of President Cory Aquino did not
do it for the rebels because of her affiliation to the elite families owning haciendas in
the country, is another story to dive into.
Back in Bohol, a best practice in curbing the insurgency issue was anchored in
a development and security framework. The late governor Erico Aumentado who was

11
the province’s governor for over nine years 2001-2010 but also held several other
political posts before and after that successfully sculpted his legacy in Peace and
Order when Bohol recorded zero insurgency in year 2010 at the same time,
significant reduction in poverty rate. He established a province-wide Peace and Order
Council and Local Monitoring Board in all the municipalities at the same time he
ensured poverty reduction programs targeted the poorest of the poor in the entire
province. This was validated through a household level survey and ranking called the
Poverty Database Monitoring System (PDMS). The system was used to address
program prioritization and the impact was clearly monitored as well at the household
level. The military viewed this strategy an ideal conflict management approach.
Evasco was already Mayor of Maribojoc, one of the towns in the province
around this time. He had the same political party as that of Governor Aumentado,
which made it not surprising later that he called upon the son of the later governor
to be among his running mates during the election in 2019. Evasco had similar vision
as that of Aumentado in that local governments taking upon the frontline role of
“combating” insurgency using service delivery and law enforcement measures.
Aumentado have formalized a civil-military cooperation as an anti-insurgency
strategy. As it was recorded, poverty incidence in Bohol dropped from 54 to 28 per
cent in his term and tourist arrivals increased from 90,000 to 500, 000. When
Aumentado died in 2012, another political party took over and would then continue
to rule the province in the next nine years as well and while Bohol has kept the
record of an insurgent-free province for so many years, recent clashes attributed to
rebels being back have been recorded including among others the 2019 encounter
with the 47th Infantry Batallion of the Philippine Army in the town of Butuan. When
Evasco ran for governor in 2019, he had a clear vision to curb corruption as well as
institutionalize the drug war of President Duterte. Evasco noted that Bohol was
unfortunately becoming top in the region in terms of drug trade. Likewise, he was
eager once again to revive the legacy of Aumentado. This was a strong calling that
Evasco has been trying to heed despite occupying a coveted position at the Office of
the President.
Evasco’s priesthood and rebellion are fundamental parts of his co-initiating
phase that seals him as kind of a “retro-movement activist “(Scharmer, 2006) –
someone who will regard the order of the past with a hint of conservatism. Often,
this position comes with the revival of an old form of religion and faith-based
spirituality.”9 For the record, he was never 10
defrocked but he does not perform any

9
The Shambhala Institute for Authentic Leadership Fieldnotes. Theory U: Leading from the Future as it
Emerges THE SOCIAL TECHNOLOGY OF PRESENCING, 2006. See also
http://www2.waisman.wisc.edu/cedd/naturalsupports/pdfs/summer/Theory.pdf

12
other services attributed to it anymore. He does however claim to this day he will
always be a priest by heart. He also still claims to be a rebel (in that he still fights for
the very same cause he did when he went “underground”) – whatever he pursues in
the future will always be anchored in these fundamental calling.

2nd Phase Co-sensing, taking deep-dive journeys to the place of most potential:
Evasco’s crossover to government work and the beginning of his journey with Duterte

Among the many campaign speeches of President Duterte includes him fondly
recalling the moment his’ and Evasco’s path crossing. He was then city prosecutor of
Davao when Evasco got arrested in Mindanao and was imprisoned. Duterte as he
narrated said that the police would come to him and ask what to do with this man
from Bohol who was identified to be a rebel. Duterte said “uy, ayaw na hilabti kay
basig paryente nako na, taga Bohol raba akong lola” (Don’t do anything to him
because he might be a relative. My grandmother comes from Bohol).
After being released from prison, Evasco came to Duterte and offered his
services as his staff. He would later become Duterte’s most trusted staff for the next
thirty years joining Duterte in his Mayoralty position for nine years, to his brief stint
as a member of the House of Representatives and then becoming his national
campaign manager in 2016 presidential election.
Evasco’s choice to work for government after fighting for quite sometime
against it may be labeled as a form of “utang na loob” (debt of gratitude) to Duterte
for giving him another chance in life after prison. Yet, this phase is actually a pivotal
moment in the U-Theory perspective in that, it allowed him to take a deep-dive
journey to the place where he think would have most potential for transformational
change in the relationship between people in the community and people in the
administrative power of government. Perhaps Evasco wanted to address that notion
that in order to understand one’s position (whether in government service or with
the side of the rebels), he/she must take that position itself and see it from its
perspective.
In the co-sensing phase, Scharmer (2006) included in the process the
formation of a highly committed team and clarifying essential questions, observing
and suspending one’s voice of judgement and connecting with one’s sense of
wonder as well as practicing deep listening and dialogue to connect to others with
one’s mind, heart and the will wide open to create collective sensing organs that

10
The act of defrocking or unfrocking refers to the removal of the frock-like vestments of clergy and ministers,
especially those that are used in officiating at worship services, baptisms, weddings, funerals, and communion.

13
allow the system to see itself.11 Clearly, the transition of Evasco to their opposite end
of the spectrum was a suspension of his judgement that government was the enemy.
He gave the government sector a chance and created a collective sensing from
himself opened his heart, mind and will to understand how he can do from within the
bureaucracy if given the chance to serve and how will he perform what is expected
from him if his rebel self was asking his now public servant self.
As it is further elaborated in Egan’s Skilled Helper Model (1975), Stage 2
presents a moment which it involves challenging existing views - one issue at a time.
Asking the questions: what this might look like from another person’s point of view;
what about the situation is a problem; and how one should describe someone else in
this situation.12 This is similar to when Evasco moved forward from being stuck, he
decided to choose an area in which progress can be made by joining government.

The professional and personal connection with Duterte. Born a year apart on an
almost same day in March, Evasco (March 29, 1944) is exactly one year older than
Duterte (March 28, 1945). It is quite providential how they both immediately made a
connection with origins that can be traced in Bohol. Both manifest a strict “tatay”
(grandfather figure) whom you can easily sense as a disciplinarian but also someone
whom you can easily air out complains/frustrations and they would act accordingly.
In fact, it can be observed overtime that this is the core foundation of their public
service. The elements of populist communication were evident in the fabric of their
playbook - (1) reference to “the People,” (2) a battle against the “corrupt” elite, and
with a possible extension of (3) the identification of an out-group. These defining
elements have been emphasized by several scholars of populism (Aalberg et al. 2017;
Jagers and Walgrave 2007; Kriesi 2014; Mudde 2004).13
14
In the 1980s, Duterte entered the political scenario in Davao, a city in the
southern part of the Philippines with a racking record of decades-long struggle with
Muslim-separatists and other armed groups including the communist rebels. Duterte
vowed to restore law and order in what was then branded as the “murder city”. His
approach was highly criticized by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in that

11
Principles and Practices of the Journey of the U (TU, 441) (Reprinted with permission of the publisher. From
U-Theory ^, Copyright© 2007 by C. Otto Scharmer, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., San Francisco, CA.
12
Egan’s Skilled Helper. https://www.gp-training.net/training/communication_skills/mentoring/egan.htm

13
Claes H. de Vreese, et.al., 2018. Populism as an Expression of Political Communication Content and Style: A
New Perspective. Also see The International Journal of Press/Politics 2018, Vol. 23(4) 423 –438 © The
Author(s) 2018
14
Peel, M. 2017. Drugs and death in Davao: the making of Rodrigo Duterte See also
https://www.ft.com/content/9d6225dc-e805-11e6-967b-c88452263daf

14
one can hazily imagine a movie like scenario of gangster-ruled city. Anecdotal
discourses from different researchers would reflect different responses from the
constituents in Davao. It can be determined from these discourses that he was open
about projecting a kind of “the Punisher” image. While Davao officially recorded
significant drops in crime rates, CHR would note a disturbing pattern of extrajudicial
killings. As victims had common death fate i.e. carried out by a hitman in motorbikes
with guns or knives. The complacency of the city was appalling even with some
indirect evidences linking government officials especially the Philippine National
Police being involved in carrying out these extra judicial killings. Duterte would play
around the existence or nonexistence of what was branded as the Davao Death
Squad. Some of his public interviews clearly captures him outrightly putting targets
at the back of criminals in the city addressing on several occasion those people
doing illegal activities or who are part of syndicates. As he claims that for as long as
he sits as their local chief executive, these people are highly risked for assassination.
Duterte would blatantly mock reports from local and international NGOs alike
presenting number of deaths in the city. No resident would openly call out these
atrocities unless you are a journalist investigating findings of the CHR. Davao would
boast itself as the “safest” city in the country with the most disciplined residents, all
these attributed to Duterte’s management. He introduced strict curfew for
unescorted minors, banning alcohol consumption in specific time and public areas,
banned public smoking and imposed fines for public nuisance with obnoxious noises.
At some point, fireworks were banned even for holidays like the new year. No one
from his staff would comment against his public pronouncements.
Most of the people you would encounter from the daily grind e.g. taxi drivers,
tricycle operators and vendors among others would agree to the “cleansing process”,
whether born out of fear or in agreement, is a matter of further research analysis.

“Damn if you do, damn if you don’t”. Perhaps what is separating Duterte from the
rest of the politicians is his boldness to do things no matter the consequences. His
principle would dictate him to act on his vision even if it means he will be branded as
a criminal or someone disobeying the church. This was against an archetype of
politician who displays a likeable personality by making sure that their development
programs would not likewise conflict with the church teachings. Duterte didn’t care.
He didn’t want to be liked. He wanted to be feared and obeyed. Sometimes, you find
a huge advantage in Duterte’s boldness e.g. his strong stand for family planning and
reproductive health – a polarizing public policy because of the Catholic’s stand on
some of its methods. In a highly catholic-faith base country, this stand is

15
controversial and openly branded as waging a war against moral faith in general.
Again, Duterte didn’t care what the church has to say. He pursued programs like
distribution of artificial contraceptives and even reflected this campaign nationwide
when he became president. In some ways Duterte was a rebel to the norm
established by both traditional politics and conservative church dogmas. This was
probably why he was drawn to the rebel priest.
Evasco was his chief of staff from 1991 to 1996, he headed the Economic
Enterprise division from 1996-1998, became his chief of staff again during his brief
stint as congressman for one term from 1998-2001. Evasco later became officer-in-
charge of the Davao’s Engineers office from 2004-2007 upon Duterte’s return to
mayoralty. During this period, Davao developed plan which would later evolve to be
the Davao City Infrastructure Development Plan and Capacity Building Project
supported by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). It is envisioned that
Davao City would play a critical spatial role in the achievement of the development
outcomes of the Davao Region in the medium to long-term period15.
Anchored in the development strategies for Davao region, Davao City also
institutionalized the construction of infrastructure facilities with disaster resilient
standards based on rigorous planning and design. Critical to the design was to
integrate gender and the mobility needs of persons who are differently abled as well
as the senior citizens. The plan targeted to enhance overall technical and financial
management capacity towards an integrated development approach in the
maintenance of its road, water and other network of facilities and services including
the sewerage. Davao’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan would later be adopted as an
integral part of the Philippine Development Plan. Together with his officials, Duterte
envisioned a CLUP for the city that would be known internationally as a center for
manufacturing and services with economic influence and special reference to its
neighboring countries – Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Guam, Australia and
New Zealand. Davao would be a metropolitan center and designated as priority area
for investment and location for commerce and industry at the national level. Duterte
would push the balance of distribution of these opportunities which was believed for
such a long time was concentrated in Luzon or Metro Manila only. To date, Davao
has solidified itself as one of the tourist destinations in the country with the city
branding itself as the “Chocolate Capital of the Philippines” and the “durian town,”
based on two of the most highlighted local agricultural products in the area.

15
Also see http://nro11.neda.gov.ph/davao-regional-development-plan-2017-2022/

16
Carrying on the legacy16. Duterte grew up in a family that was active politically. His
father was the governor of Davao and ironically served the Cabinet during the time
of President Ferdinand Marcos while his mother was among the activists who joined
several movements to topple the Marcos regime. After graduating law at the San
Beda University, Duterte later became a prosecutor in Davao until being appointed as
vice mayor in 1986 and later elected mayor in 1988. He went on to serve three terms.
In 2010, his daughter Sara took over the post while Duterte served as vice mayor and
he came back as mayor in 2013 with his son Paolo as vice mayor.
Currently, the mayor of Davao City is Duterte’s daughter Sara, with her
youngest brother Sebastian (Baste) is the vice mayor. All Duterte’s children are
known to highly respect Evasco among all “Duterte’s men”. During the election
campaign in 2016, Sara came multiple times to Bohol to support the candidacy of
Evasco despite her own campaign ongoing parallelly. She always took the time to
visit Evasco whether to join his campaign rallies or seek his advice. Baste on the other
hand organized concerts for the youth for the entire province of Bohol in partnership
with Ice Seguerra, former Undersecretary of the National Youth Commission – who
was under Evasco’s supervision during his stint as Cabinet Secretary. Baste also
travelled to Bohol multiple times to join Evasco’s campaign soirees. The second son,
Paolo, while not as visible as his other siblings, also came to Bohol several times to
show his support for Evasco. All three continuously coordinate with Evasco for advice
including among others unverified reports suggesting that Mayor Sara is starting to
organize her team to run for presidency in 2022. Evasco, being the campaign
manager of their father in the 2016 presidential election was a critical figure that
piqued the curiosity of politicians and diplomats alike.
It is not surprising that the legacy of her father with Evasco’s support trickled
in the IM4Davao project17 a comprehensive program with an urban infrastructure
development plan for the city enlisting priority projects that will improve the
competitiveness and security of Davao. Likewise, it seeks to align with the "Build-
Build-Build Program" under Duterte’s central government target. The infrastructure
modernization plan of the project strengthens the resolve of the city to shift to a
more robust city center having a poly-centric urban structure.
As seen in the figure in the succeeding page, the focus of the program had
four strategies to wit: dynamic, distinguishable, diversified, and decentralized

16
Michael Ray. Davao City, Philippines. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica.
See also https://www.britannica.com/place/Davao-City
17
Also see http://www.neda.gov.ph/tag/davao-city-infrastructure-development-plan-and-capacity-building-
project/

17
development. This served as the driving force of the vision which would later be
packaged as the “Infrastructure Modernization for Davao (IM4Davao).

Figure 1. As adopted from the Chapter 8, Davao City Infrastructure Development Plan and
Capacity Building Project FINAL REPORT PART II Development Framework as adopted from the
IM4Davao Infrastructure Modernization Program

Transforming Davao City is inevitable. Historically, its center the Poblacion

District, has kept its primacy over other districts. Followed second by Toril and then
then the other smaller urban centers – Bunawan, Buhangin, Mintal, Calinan and
Tolomo. The city center has now expanded to include Talomo districts as well as
Agdao and Buhangin. All these comprise a large urban area forming a monocentric
urban structure. The designated sub-centers are targeted to increase daytime
population by providing more institutional lands for workplaces, commercial and
business areas. A proposed Davao Central station under the TDD Rail Line located in
both Barangay Waan and Magtuod are projected to be subcenters as well.
Meanwhile, the rest of the underdeveloped areas along the Davao river is projected
as a crosspoint for the intercity railway and urban mass transit. As described in the
plan further, “the LGU’s commitments to transform Davao City into a modern, vibrant,
and a well-planned settlement and investment center in Mindanao and the Asia-Pacific
region, propelled by socially enlightened leaders and empowered citizenry, spiritually
committed to attaining sustainable growth and optimum development within the
context of balance ecology. These commitments are aligned with Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) of making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe,
resilient and sustainable (SDG 11).”18
18
ibid

18
3rd Phase Presencing, letting come, connecting to the future that wants to
emerge through you: Evasco’s call to public service, going home to Bohol and becoming a
local chief executive

The third phase in the U-Theory allows for the person to connect again with
the source of inspiration. It encourages one to go to the place of silence and allow
the inner knowing to emerge. 19 A similar phase in Evasco’s life is when he decided to
go back to his roots in the province of Bohol and ran for Mayor in the Municipality of
Maribojoc, his hometown. He would then serve for the next nine years from 2007
until joining again the team of President Duterte in 2016.

4th Phase Co-creating the power of intention, crystalizing vision: Evasco’s

appointment as the Cabinet Secretary and the institutionalization of his dream of
integrating Participatory Governance in the National Development and Security Agenda
- From selling the idea of Federalism
- As such, the regions will self-rule. This is in keeping with President Duterte's
promise to people in southern Philippines that regions outside Metro Manila
will receive their fair share of budgets from the national government. He
believes that self-rule is the key to bringing peace in Mindanao. An attempt to
lay the timeline for this possibility with the initiative moving forward could see
a plebiscite occurring in 2019. If all goes positively well, then the first election
of officials of states and federal government could happen in 2022.1 However,
history has witnessed this movement to drag on due to the intricacies of
establishing another form of democratic government.
- 8.17 On the regional scene, the creation of a Davao Gulf Development
Authority (HB 6339) is with the House of Representatives and has gone
through a first reading in September 2017. It will pave the way to the Davao
Gulf Special Economic Freeport Zone and the Island Garden City of Samal as
an Ecotourism Zone. Among others, it will harness the Davao Gulf sea lanes as
an alternative transport system for redundancy purposes.
- CabSec PPMO
- Institutionalization of KP

19
Rostron, 2009. Coaching Models for Business Success, Working with Coaching Models: The U-Process

19
5th Phase Co-evolving the social presencing theater: Evasco’s election battle as
Bohol’s govenor
-
- Running as governor of Bohol
- Local peace talks full circle?

20