Eastern Visayas Media Without Borders
by Miriam G.Desacada
Maasin City—Representative Christopherson “Coco” Yap of the 2nd District of Southern Leyte is a man whose leadership style involves understanding, listening, and adapting the feelings of his constituents by connecting with them and engaging with them on a personal level.This is what we call empathetic leadership, which focuses on understanding people’s views and needs.
This is achieved by taking a genuine interest in them and providing the service they deserve. His legislative efforts, community interactions, and support for the people are rooted in his holistic understanding of their personas.
There may be downsides to his type of leadership, one of which is his vulnerability to personal attacks and mistreatment. However, his upbringing shaped his character, fostering a deep empathy for his people and a sincere desire to help them grow independently.
This connection drove them to question how he was linked to the alleged anomalies. They believed that Coco could not afford to betray their trust.COCO’S UPBRINGINGCoco was born in Cebu City on November 26, 1981 to parents who run several businesses, which in turn taught him prudence in financial management and tempered his character of not coveting more than what he needs, and to earn money through hard work and not through shady deals. He grew up in Sogod, Southern Leyte where he was raised into the refined gentleman that he is today. He got immersed in the lives of the common people who became his playmates and coming-of-age acquaintances, making him appreciative of simple living and of sharing his extras with the marginalized neighbors. He was taught not to be eager for fame or riches, making him abhor the ostentatious way of life and braggart attitude of some well-to-do students during his studies at the University of San Carlos in Cebu City. He was more comfortable on the sidelines with his friends of ordinary means.COCO’S POLITICAL JOURNEYHis regular engagement with the ordinary people, his simple means and needs, and a frill-free life molded his attitude of self-sufficiency and resourcefulness, and a man of the masses—a character that he carried through from the time he put up his own business, to a point of his transformation into one of the most desired politicians among his peers. When he won handily as vice governor, he never wavered and stayed rooted to his humble way of life. When he basked at the glare of fame, his outlook of humility remained. The more that he engaged himself with the disadvantaged people of his province, the more that he became closer to them. Tucked in his mind and heart—a product of his upbringing—is the conviction that public service is a public trust, and that he was not a vice governor for the wealthy but an ally of those who have less in life. He excelled in this political career, earning him a popular second term as vice governor.When Congress passed a measure creating a 2nd legislative district off Southern Leyte and enacted it by then-president Rodrigo Duterte, Coco’s name was unanimously endorsed by politicians and the people of that district. He was already a resident of a relatively obscure town of Pintuyan in Panaon island at the time, and the new district pulsated with his name as a sure bet to become its first ever congressman. The 2nd district consisted of the towns of Anahawan, Hinunangan, Hinundayan, Libagon, Liloan, Pintuyan, Saint Bernard, San Francisco, San Juan, San Ricardo, Silago, and Sogod. Came election time, and he coasted to victory, the people’s imprimatur that he was the fitting choice for the job. Through his first term, the 19th Congress, he worked hard, and vowed not to disappoint his people’s expectations, because he knew he was there to serve them, not for anything else.
Since he first assumed office in the 19th Congress until his re-election to the 20th Congress, Coco showcased his reform-oriented and people-centered leadership. His works, in and outside of Congress, had been focused on the constituents and Southern Leyte province itself. LEGISLATIVE ACCOMPLISHMENTSIn March last year, he succeeded in passing his bill, creating DPWH’s 2nd District Engineering Office of Southern Leyte, enabling a body to directly handle the infrastructure projects for the 12 towns of the district. This, among other congressional accomplishments, likewise earned him a second term during the recent midterm election this year.
Weeks after he was sworn into office for the 20th Congress, he immediately rolled up his sleeves to the grueling task of filing bills after bills, both local and national in scope. Some of the bills of which he was the author or main sponsor, are the following:1) HB02135. Establishing a Level 2 General Hospital (S. Leyte Regional Hospital in Sogod town. Date filed: July 21, 2025;2) HB02137. Establishing a TESDA Training and Assessment Center in Hinunangan town. Date Filed: July 30, 2025;3) HB02136. Integrating Pintuyan National Vocational High School in Pintuyan town into the Southern Leyte State University System, to be known as the SLSU-Pintuyan Campus. Date Filed: July 21, 2025;4) HB02141. Establishing Centers for Disease Prevention and Control, which provides for the modernization of the public health emergency preparedness and response capabilities. Date Filed: July 21, 2025; and5) HB02144. Providing death, disability, and accident insurance coverage to barangay tanods, health workers, Day Care workers, and Lupong Tagapamayapa members; and increasing the insurance benefits of Sangguniang Barangay members. Date Filed: 2025-07-21.He also co-authored HB04589, which provides for the construction of an undersea tunnel or bridge connecting Sorsogon and Northern Samar provinces. Date Filed: 2025-09-15.As one of the young voices in Congress, Yap has consistently advocated for environmental protection and climate resilience. Coco spearheaded the push of a bill to declare Panaon Island in Southern Leyte a protected seascape, or the waters surrounding the towns of Liloan, Pintuyan, San Francisco, and San Ricardo. Last August 29, President BBM signed it into law as Republic Act 12238 (Panaon Island Protected Seascape Act), within the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS). to safeguard its rich marine biodiversity and regulate resource use.
The law aims to conserve and manage the rich marine ecosystems and biodiversity of the Panaon area, which is deemed a globally significant climate-resilient reef area, an important habitat for threatened species and a migratory corridor for marine life. The law further creates a Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) to oversee the management of the seascape and establishes a trust fund to support conservation efforts, protection of coral reefs, seagrasses, mangroves, and endemic species, inclusive of community development and climate change adaptation strategies. Coco has been advocating for people-centered development in his district, which includes strengthening local disaster response capacity. He has prioritized educational assistance, health services, sustainable livelihoods, and infrastructure that directly improve the lives of ordinary constituents.
HANDS-ON MEDICAL AID Coco organized the Team Coco Yap, which helped him fulfill his medical assistance program for the indigents: giving medicines, and paying off hospital bills, laboratory needs, and dialysis procedures. In addition to this is his burial assistance program, again for the indigents.
After his weeklong congressional work in Metro Manila, Coco would fly immediately to Southern Leyte to monitor and visit his people. He is known to visit communities unannounced, preferring direct conversations over scripted briefings. This hands-on approach reflects a psychological profile of a leader who seeks genuine connection, not just ceremonial encounters.
Last May, he carried out an emergency transport of a 3-year-old girl from a barangay in Saint Bernard town to the Philippine Heart Center in Quezon City where she was successfully operated on for heart complications. Coco facilitated financial assistance for the family to support the full recovery of their child. Several weeks after the girl had fully recovered, he flew in from Manila and, by nightfall, arrived at the girl’s home in the barangay. He brought gifts that delighted the child and moved her parents to tears of gratitude upon seeing him. It was a heartfelt visit from a congressman to a young girl in a remote village, free from any fanfare or media attention.Many people who learned about such touching kindness, which they also witnessed in their barangay, expressed their admiration in unison: “Coco is a great help to the poor through his medical assistance program and livelihood initiatives. He is a good leader—kind and selfless as a congressman. His service is genuine. He is easily accessible to those in need and always ready to provide financial support and address the people’s concerns.”Coco once shared with a journalist in private:
“I find strength in the stories of ordinary people. They remind me why I chose public service in the first place.” From childhood days to college, his upbringing defined his predilection for ordinary people, a trait that he sustains in public service.
WILD ALLEGATIONS OF ANOMALIES:
As is usual, a man of good deeds are often the target of resentful green-eyed peers, especially in the political realm, thus it is not a strange event when Coco was recently assaulted with allegations of complicity in anomalous flood control projects in his district.It was expected, as Coco would later comment, but it jolted his sanity because he wondered why on earth will he betray the trust of his constituents? After serving the province for almost ten years in different capacities, what will make him commit corruption now? If he wanted to enrich himself in power, as they accused him to be, what makes him do it now? And why would he do it, when living with a clear conscience means a life with a peace of mind? Coco insisted he has no reason whatsoever to shatter his life and political soul. He could not betray the people he loved since childhood, the people he served for years.
He would not destroy his life now, he declared.“I have never engaged in any illegal activity nor allowed any of my relatives to use my position for personal gain. Public funds must serve the public, not private interests—and I stand by that principle,” Coco said, as he urged the public to remain vigilant against disinformation and to focus on working together for the betterment of the province. “Leadership is not about power or profit—it’s about service,” said the youthful congressman. “I will not allow political mudslinging to derail our mission of building a more resilient, progressive, and sustainable Southern Leyte. ”While he strongly condemns corrupt practices in government, Coco rallied his people, “Let us rise above politics. Our shared goal is to protect our environment, strengthen our communities, and ensure a better future for the next generation,” he said, adding that he has nothing to hide, as everything is above board, dressed by his conscience and commitment to serve well his beloved constituents.
Coco said that such political mudslinging only strengthens his resolve to pursue transparent and accountable governance. He sees public service as a responsibility anchored in trust.
He listens to his people and shares similar aspirations with them, that he had neither appetite nor time to go into nefarious activities that would only devastate outright the honest life he built from childhood to the present. —-Miriam G. Desacada
