Nestor Archival: How a farmer’s son became Cebu City’s next mayor

BOPK’s Nestor Archival Sr. claimed Cebu City’s top post in the 2025 elections. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Cebu City proclaimed the winning candidates at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, May 13. | Tommy Osmeña/ Facebook

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Long before he toppled political giants in the 2025 Cebu City mayoral race, Nestor Archival Sr. was a barefoot schoolboy trudging through the muddy roads of Barangay Sirao.

Born to a farmer and a public school teacher, Archival grew up in the uplands of Cebu with no political pedigree and no promise of privilege.

What he had instead was grit and a childhood that taught him the value of hard work, perseverance, and education.

“Niingon akong Mama, ‘Gusto ba ka mag-farmer? Then you go farming.’ But she also said, ‘Bahala’g 75 basta maka-eskwela,’” Archival recalled in an interview on May 20.

READ: Nestor Archival topples Mike Rama, Raymond Garcia in Cebu City

Archival took that to heart. Their house in Sirao was a kilometer away from school, and the muddy trail offered no comfort.

He wore mismatched footwear, a wooden bakya on one foot, a plastic “Dragon” sandal on the other, switching between them as needed.

“When it rained, the mud was so bad, we relied on our neighbor’s pick-up to get to school. That’s when I promised myself: someday, I’ll become an engineer so I can buy my own vehicle,” Archival shared.

That dream pushed him through high school at Abellana National School and later to the University of San Carlos, where he pursued engineering.

He brought rice and dried shrimp wrapped in banana leaves for lunch and often ate alone in the restroom out of shame.

“Mauwaw man ko, pero limpyo man pud ang CR,” he said.

Too poor to afford a graduation toga, he nearly skipped his college commencement. But he persuaded his mother to borrow money so he could take the board exam, which he passed with flying colors, and eventually ranked 16th nationwide.

That moment, he said, marked the beginning of his mission to give back.

Archival’s political journey began not in the halls of power, but at the grassroots. Active in student organizations, he served as Vice President for Student Affairs at San Carlos.

He ran for barangay captain of Talamban in 1995 and lost. A year later, in 1996, he won as a city councilor under then-Mayor Alvin Garcia’s slate.

In 1997, he joined the slate of President Joseph Estrada’s party, running alongside national and local names, but lost narrowly, ranking first among the non-winners.

That loss would prove to be an opening. When political alliances shifted in 2001 and then-Mayor Tomas Osmeña found himself without council allies, his advisers suggested recruiting “the number one who didn’t make it.”

That was Archival.

He officially joined Osmeña’s Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) that year and has remained with the party ever since.

“Tommy treated BOPK like a family — a father, a mother, and members who all take care of each other. That concept resonated with me,” Archival said.

Critics have called him a puppet of Osmeña. His response is both personal and philosophical.

“Maybe, in some sense, but how can you turn against someone you consider a father?” he said.

“We agreed that if I become mayor, there must be mutual respect. We’re partners, not subordinates,” Archival added.

On May 13, 2025, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) proclaimed Archival as Cebu City’s new mayor, after he won by a wide margin in a tightly contested three-way race.

He garnered 256,197 votes, far ahead of second-placer Raymond Alvin Garcia with 176,967 and third-placer, former mayor Michael Rama, with 120,124.

It was a shocking upset in a city long dominated by established political families. What began as a hesitant campaign, marred by limited resources and little machinery, turned into a grassroots movement.

“I was hesitant at first. I didn’t have the funds or the machinery. When we started, five barangay captains supported us, but then it dropped to two. We had to start from the ground,” Archival shared.

Instead of relying on local officials, he went straight to the people.

“We met with groups of five, six, sometimes ten. House-to-house, lingkod-lingkod, we listened,” he said.

His campaign slogan, Serbisyo para sa masa, dili para sa bulsa (Service for the people, not for the pockets), struck a chord with voters frustrated by patronage politics.

Vice Mayor-elect Tomas Osmeña, who came out of retirement to support Archival’s candidacy, described the victory as a win of principles over patronage.

“This is money versus an idea — and the idea won,” Osmeña said.

Archival plans to bring an engineer’s mindset to public service — focused, solution-oriented, and results-driven. His top priorities include addressing flooding, improving traffic management, modernizing waste disposal, and ensuring access to quality education.

“Like in engineering, we start with the end in mind, plan backward, and implement efficiently without compromising revenue,” he said.

He also emphasized long-term solutions over one-time dole-outs.

“We’re not offering one-week handouts. We’re offering programs that last,” he said.

As a city councilor, Archival donated his salary to support scholars and funded emergency response programs through his Nestor Archival Rescue and Fire (NARF) foundation. He plans to expand both.

“My background as a farmer’s son, my life as an engineer and entrepreneur — these give me a unique perspective. I can relate to the masses and the business community. That’s my advantage,” he said.