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The municipality of Ocampo traced its existence as the former “Mission de Mabatobato” launched by the Franciscan friars in 1735. The place was named “Mabatobato” because of the presence of huge rocks scattered all over the place believed to have erupted from Mt. Isarog. As a mission, it has four barrios; Ayugan, Tinablanan, Pinit and Moriones.
In the early 1800s, people from neighboring towns began to flock the area to settle and till the vast areas of lands suited for agriculture. The place began to flourish that the people began to dream of transforming the settlement into a new municipality. Cabeza de Barangay Michael Alcantara and Don Jose Barangbang requested and pleaded to the Bishop of Caceres to make the barrio into a town. The request was granted.
In 1917, Mabatobato was annexed to the municipality of Pili to help it recover from the Spanish-American War and for effective governance. By 1922 it was made into a new parish. Baptisms and burials were first recorded that year. The place began to flourish again and influx of immigrants from neighboring towns as well as from Batangas and Tayabas were observed.
After three decades, the leaders and the people of Mabatobato began to clamor for independence and to govern themselves once again. In 1948, during the incumbency of Congressman Sebastian C. Moll, Jr., 2nd District Camarines Sur, the dream to separate had been brewed. President Elpidio Quirino signed Executive Order No. 243 dated 15 July 1949 entitled: “Organizing Certain Barrios of the Municipality of Pili, Camarines Sur, into an Independent Municipality under the name of OCAMPO”.
Mabatobato was renamed in honor of Don Julian Ocampo who was the Governor of Camarines Sur in the 1930s. Upon the appointment and qualification of the first municipal officials, Ocampo has begun to officially exist as an independent municipality on August 10, 1949.
Don Julian Ocampo, former governor of Camarines Sur, is the namesake of the town.
Ocampo, officially the Municipality of Ocampo (Central Bikol: Banwaan kan Ocampo; Rinconada Bikol: Banwāan ka Ocampo; Tagalog: Bayan ng Ocampo), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Camarines Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 51,073 people.[3]
Ocampo is 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) from Pili and 464 kilometres (288 mi) from Manila.

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