MEETING him with his bubbly wife over coffee and pizza on a mid-morning Monday after I vividly recall approaching him in November 2023 following a public consultation gone wrong — with positive results anyway — a victory for the people, because it finally burst the bubble and opened the lid of the Tagbilaranons’ wrath against the city administration’s obstinate desire to construct a massive 153-hectare land reclamation project in the city’s coastal villages of Mansasa, Poblacion I, Poblacion II, Cogon, Booy, and Taloto — the conversation was more relaxed and gut level. And yes, the land reclamation project is archived for now.
His story is like almost everyone’s journey. He left the place of his origins to begin a new life abroad sans the influence and the larger-than-life personas of his parents. His political stock, being the youngest and only son of a former city mayor and city councilor preceded him, and I would surmise, never left him.
His early involvement in the community is not a surprise from a family of public servants. Atoy’s father, Atty. Jose Valles Torralba, served as city chief executive of Tagbilaran for fourteen years while his mother, Alberta Sarabia Co Torralba, was barangay captain of Cogon for more than fourteen years, and as elected president of the Association of Barangay Captains, ex-officio city councilor of Tagbilaran, followed by a nine-year stint as elected city councilor.
Growing up, the pull of public service had always beckoned. “I served as Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Kagawad of Cogon at thirteen, from 1989-1992, and became SK chairperson of Cogon from 1993-2001,” he explained. “I was an altar boy at seven,” he proudly shared. While an SK youth leader, he initiated activities and projects that targeted the youth to turn them away from drugs such as sports including the construction of basketball courts; contributed to the creation of the Cogon barangay hall and gymnasium; helped establish four day-care centers; and supported livelihood projects and skills training on electrical work, dress-making, and basic electronics.
Always embedded in the community, especially in their neighborhood in Tamblot, he was involved in and organized several neighborhood associations like AYA Airport Youth Organization, Tamblot Association of Young Generation where he was president at age twelve, Kapilya of Tamblot; and initiated and helped organize the establishment of the first-ever public night high school in the city — the Cogon Night High School, now Cogon National High School — to support working students.
Torralba has always been a grassroots (maka-masa) boy, teenager, youth, and man. It is his stamp; his hallmark. His deep connection with his neighborhood, community, and city while serving as a youth leader, and even the community he mobilized while residing abroad, proved that he is a man of the masses.
Honoring a prior agreement with his parents that his wife supported, he returned to his birth city, and by the 2022 national and local elections, he ran for councilor obtaining the highest votes that clinched him the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) majority floor leader post; chairperson of the committees on rules, health, and the environment; vice chair on youth and sports; and serves as a member in various SP committees.
Deeply rooted in the community whether in his home city or abroad and bonded with the regular folks, he strongly identifies with the masses, and that’s what he aspires to do in governance. “Let’s break the ‘disconnect’ between the people and their elected leaders,” Torralba said. He senses this divide — between the so-called leaders and the governed — and this disconnect becomes more palpable when the people, the residents, and the constituents are no longer consulted on issues that affect them. “There is a need to break this divide, and for the so-called leaders, to walk the ground that ordinary folks walk so they can empathize with them,” Atoy stressed.
Forging ahead, challenges notwithstanding, Atoy promotes the health of Tagbilaranons by sponsoring resolutions that establish the Tagbilaran Primary Care Facility, advocates the protection and conservation of the environment, and the sustainability of natural resources by looking for ways to address environmental issues such as pollution, deforestation, habitat destruction, and climate change.
His defining moment came at the most unexpected but fated instance when he vocally opposed the proposal to build a P12-billion land reclamation project on the narrow strait between Panglao Island and Tagbilaran City, particularly along the coastal Barangays of Mansasa, Poblacion I, Poblacion II, Cogon, Booy and Taloto. This project would have immensely destroyed marine ecosystems, negatively impacted biodiversity, and displaced local fisherfolk.
Atoy Torralba, indeed, has responded to the call of the times.
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The writer hosts Woman Talk with Belinda Sales every Saturday, 10 a.m. at 91.1 Balita FM Tagbilaran City. Email at belindabelsales@gmail.com. X @ShilohRuthie./PN
