OUTGOING Davao City Councilor Jay Melchor Quitain, Jr., up to this day, is overwhelmed that in a few days, he will be occupying the second-highest position in the city --- the Vice Mayor, a position Sebastian “Baste” Duterte will be vacating as he is also set to assume the mayoral position.
Before formally taking over the Vice Mayor's Office beginning at 12 noon on June 30, Quitain said he and his team are currently in the transition phase.
As he enters a new chapter of his six-year political career, the people he will be serving will no longer be limited to those from the first congressional district, but the entire Davao City as well.
Colleagues, friends, peers, and his supporters might know him as a guy who masters the law practice, but he is actually a passionate painter.
Quitain recalled how he left the city in 1984 to study high school in Laguna after being chosen as a scholar of Imelda Marcos --- the wife of the late President Ferdinand Marcos, whose son, incoming President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos, Jr. is the running mate of incoming Vice President Sara Duterte.
He was in a dilemma on what to pursue — fine arts, architecture, or law. Quitain comes from a family of successful lawyers.
"I am a painter, which has been my hobby. I’m really into arts," he said.
In the end, he was persuaded to take up law, a career of his father, Jesus Melchor "Boy" Vega Quitain.
his grandfather, Pedro Quitain; and uncles pursued and engaged. His parents suggested he take up law, for he could still pursue his passion in painting after passing the bar.
While he was already firm with his decision, the fear of failing the bar exam was a setback he carried.
"Ang pressure gyud sa akoa is basin dili ta kapasa sa bar exam, diha ko ginerbyos... Ulaw kaayo sa akong lolo, buhi pa akong lolo ato, ug sa akong parents (It was pressure on my part that I might fail the bar exam. I was really nervous about it. It would be a disappointment for my grandfather, who was still alive at the time, and my parents)," Quitain said.
But before taking up law, he took up pre-law at the University of the Philippines-Diliman with the course of Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, and eventually graduated law in 1998 at San Beda College, the alma mater of his father and Outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte, whom his father served as city administrator back when the latter was still city mayor.
He took up the bar exam after graduating and passed it in 1999. In the same year, he returned to Davao City and took over the law firm of his family.
In his practice, he was a litigation lawyer, who specialize in providing support for plaintiffs and defendants in civil and criminal cases.
Aside from being a solo practitioner, he also pursued his career in teaching at the University of Mindanao, from 1999 to 2019. He started teaching subjects in college and later focused on teaching in the College of Law.
His teaching career went under hiatus when the Covid-19 pandemic struck the city in 2020, admitting he is not "tech-savvy" in handling the "new normal" teaching set up, and the poor internet connection at his residence.
In 2016, after years of practicing law, he followed the footsteps of his family in the local political arena as he ran for councilor. At the age of 44, he made his political debut. He ran again in 2019, and he also won.
Despite taking the path of a lawyer, Quitain said his father, the person whom he looked up to, never pressured him to be a lawyer nor to be a politician.
Quitain said being a councilor gave him an opportunity to expand his practice. But beyond his practice, being a legislator also is a huge task at hand, as it is his responsibility to craft ordinances that would be helpful to the Dabawenyos.
While he gets to practice law in his current field, this also gave him a bigger responsibility of what it means to be a public servant as he needs to go down to the community and address the problems they are facing.
"Being a councilor, you are not limited only to just going to the Council and staying in the office, you have to go down to the community and give services," the councilor said.
One of his programs is the feeding program for the malnourished children in his district. Another of his program is providing assistance to senior citizens and those in need to the best of their capacity.
On November 9, 2021, days before the last day of the election substitution, Quitain received a text message from the vice mayor's staff to go to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) office.
To his surprise, he only found out that Sebastian, who was running for reelection, withdrew his candidacy to substitute the latter's sister, Sara, who ran for vice president and eventually won. Quitain, on the other hand, was handpicked as Sebastian's substitute.
"Medyo nalipay ko siyempre. Gipamalita nako sa akong pamilya. Pagkahuman ato, nahuwasan nako, medyo gikuyawan ko, considering atong responsibility is mas dako og scope (I was a bit happy about the news, that I immediately shared it to my family. Right after, I got back to my senses, I suddenly realized how huge the responsibility I would be handling considering it would cover a bigger scope)," the outgoing councilor said.
Admittedly, he said there were other councilors who are also fitting as a substitute. When asked what was the vice mayor's reason for selecting him, Quitain said, "None. Wala nang (There was no given) reason. I did not ask anymore why."
It was the first election he ran, unopposed, making him a sure seater in the election. But he still campaigned, not for himself, but for his running mate, Sebastian, who won as mayor of Davao City by a landslide.
For his end, Quitain was overwhelmed with the 561,976 votes he got despite running unopposed.
“I’m happy although I’m unopposed. I was not expecting a good turnout of votes,” he said.
Meanwhile, he is expecting that the incoming 20th Council, of which he will be serving as Presiding Head, will be productive.
“The challenges naman are there, but it will be easier to face those challenges kasi we are united. All councilors, 27 of them, are also eager to work for the better. It is easy to work if you’re not alone,” Quitain said.
As for those aspiring to be a lawyer, all he could say is to be diligent in reading.
"I tell you, anybody who wants to be a lawyer can be a lawyer, basta basahon lang nimo ang libro (for as long as you be diligent in reading),” he said. RGL