CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY Mayor Oscar S. Moreno is now in ‘hot water’ after complaints started to ‘snowball’ since Day 1 of the imposition of enhance community quarantine (ECQ), ranging from his alleged inability to take responsibility to the people’s dilemma on food, stricter protocols and other quarantine measures.
The City of Cagayan de Oro has been experiencing a surge in covid-19 cases which resulted to the ECQ status a few weeks back until August 7, and displaced city residents clamor for food support was reportedly denied by the mayor.
The mayor instead depended from the support of the national office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Based on records from the Department of Health, since July 22 until August 1, there has been over a hundred plus Covid-19 positive cases recorded every day, and many have also died.
Among those who openly criticized the mayor’s inability to take full responsibility of the people who voted for him in the last year’s elections was Police Lieutenant Colonel Lemuel Gonda, deputy director of the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office (COCPO).
Gonda has accused the city mayor of being lax on matters that were already affecting thousands of ‘Kagay-anons’ who were stopped from their jobs due to the ECQ classification level imposed by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF).
The police official also called Mayor Moreno “uncooperative” in the supposed stricter implementation of ECQ measures which could have helped control the surge of cases of the deadly coronavirus.
He also blamed City Hall in the recent rise of thief cases because the city residents were mandated to stay home and have no more food to eat. Disgruntled city residents, Gonda said, have resorted to thievery to provide food for the family’s aching stomachs.
Meanwhile, a concerned citizen who only identify himself as ‘Francisco’ has also lodged a complaint at Malacañang’s 8888 Citizen’s Complaint Hotline.
In his complaint, he accused the City Mayor of “not imposing proper quarantine protocols which reportedly continued the rise of covid-19 cases.
Francisco also said the mayor is not cooperating with the IATF, not even the police, to secure lockdowns.
“CDO is like in a normal day without covid. People are suffering,” the complainant said in a text message to 8888 hotline.
MORENO FIGHTS BACK!
Mayor Moreno, in response to the accusations of Lt Col Gonda, has challeged the police official to join politics as he started politicking.
Moreno has also told Gonda to resign, claiming that the police official’s accusations were baseless and only aimed at maligning him as chief executive of the city.
During the City Council’s regular session, City Councilor Ian Mark Nacaya has also read the letter of Mayor Moreno to PNP Chief Guillermo Eleazar, calling for the resignation of Lt Col Gonda.
“Dili na maayo nga ang police is engage in partisan politics,” Mayor Moreno explained in a press conference.
Moreno also lashed out at Gonda for misbehavior as a police official of the city. He said if Gonda wants to involve himself in partisan politics then “he should resign,” Mayor Moreno said
AYUDA, AYUDA
Irate residents of the city have also continued to clamor for ‘ayuda’ (food and cash assistance). They claim that many residents are now in hunger due to the mayor’s alleged inability to provide immediate subsidy for food and cash.
The residents cited IATF’s guidelines on ECQ areas, saying that it is both the responsibility of the national and local government to provide food and other support when a particular area is on lockdown, or under the ECQ classification status.
But the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has announced on August 3 that they will start the distribution of cash aid to 190,000 city residents affected by the ECQ status of the city.
