About the Mayor

If experience is king, then Mayor Rajiv V. Enad’s 18 years of experience in governmentcan speak volumes.

Named after Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, MinglanillaMayor Rajiv Enad, a lawyer,is from humble beginnings. His mother, Vickie Varron, was a high school teacher while his father was a government employee.Mayor `Rajiv was not born with a silver spoon so where he is today is the result of a lifetime of enduring work, focus, and persistence.In making decisions he hears in his mind the loving voice of his mother, who inculcated in him to always actlike teachers do: with integrity, empathy, and the willingness to serve.

While others wanted to play outdoors, Rajiv as a child was drawn to reading, a hobby and study habit that helped him clinch several academic achievements: a degree in Management Accounting at the University of San Carlos,  bachelor of laws at the University of San Jose Recoletos, masters degree in Development Management and Governance, masters degree in Public Administration at the National Graduate Institute of Japan where he was a Young Leaders Program Scholar, and juris doctor.

Always a family person, the young Rajiv was willing to sacrifice and take any kind of beating for the sake of family. He is now married to Lheslen Abella-Enad, with whom he has three children: Liam, Lianna, and Lucas.

Politics was far from the mind of the then young Rajiv, who yearned to work as photoghrapher for the National Geographic as among his personal goals. But when destiny calls, no man can refuse. 

A reluctant candidate, he was supposed to substitute a candidate for SK councilor. But always giving his all, he aimed for the stars, and ended up elected as the SK Chairman of barangay Vito and then SK Federation President. Without inheriting his position from an economic or political scion, immediately he became an ex-officio member of the Municipal Council in his first foray in politics.

He had longed to go places to chase his personal aspirations, but it was during this moment as youth leader roaming around every corner of Minglanilla meeting the townfolks that he fell in love with public service, and his hometown.He never left. He spent the last 18 years with the town’s lawmaking body, actively sponsoring legislation to deliver social services such as increasing the aid to senior citizens. 

Last May, it was with courage that Atty. Rajiv, then a councilor, faced a three-cornered mayoral fight against two formidable opponents  – one an incumbent vice mayor, and the other an entrepreneur from an influential family.

It was the most vicious electoral battle in the history of Minglanila, and he emerged victorious, taking on the reins as mayor at only 37 years old. He had spent half of his life serving Minglanillahanons, and will apparently spend many more years in service.

Mayor Rajiv Enad’s assumption in office as mayor at noontime of June 30, 2022 paved the way for a new erafor Minglanilla, an era marked with foresight and rapid action on people’s concerns. He intends to steer Minglanilla to greater heights, envisioning to make his hometown as a vibrant city which will serve as a magnet for industrial, residential, and commercial development. 

With his campaign battlecry “walay imposible basta magkugi,” meaningnothing is impossible with hardwork, he rallies his people to band together to create a better Minglanilla, with hearts full of hope for its realization, one step at a time.

Mayor Rajiv introduces new work ethic, new work culture, extraordinary visions … reforms that willbring his people into the Golden Age of Minglanilla.

His passion for service is as fierce as his thirst for learning. He believes that all of us are students of life, and students of the world, so we can expect Mayor Rajiv to venture into more continuing educational pursuits, with the end view of applying his learnings for the betterment of his town.

His rise from being a simple lad to becoming the most influential man in Minglanilla today is nothing short of inspiring. Barely three months in office and yet, Mayor Rajiv Enad has already shown that truly, he is one of Cebu’s top guns in the realm of public service in terms of ability, intellect, vision, and speed by which he makes things done.  

As what Mayor Rajiv would say, “The storm didn’t come to destroy you, but to build you. You are only as good as the storms you survived.”