ROCKINGHAM, North Carolina—By the time this sees print, the competing lineups for the local posts of Cagayan de Oro City had long filed their certificates of candidacy at the city office of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday, Oct. 7 and more or less we have an idea of their chances of victory in next year’s elections.
You see, I did watch the interviews of Congressman Lordan Suan of the city’s first district and former mayor Oscar Moreno over the weekend at the social media pages of two local radio stations and it put to rest at least some of the persistent speculations in the local political arena.
In their respective interviews, both men confirmed that Moreno or OSM will be the official Padayon Pilipino local standard bearer in the May 2025 elections. Moreno did say he was ‘preparing’ but declined to confirm until the last week of September on his bid for the city’s top local post.
Moreno or OSM will run against incumbent and former ally Mayor Rolando ‘Klarex’ Uy and it’s the matchup that Uy, according to his supporters, had always wanted; in fact Klarex is said to have asked other prospective candidates to clear the field by stepping aside so he and OSM will square off one-on-one with no nuisance candidate to spoil their face-off.
Speaking of nuisance candidates, there was this ‘blind item’ circulating in social media about a candidate who supposedly withdrew his candidacy after claiming that he ‘felt disrespected.’ No other details were given causing some to question who the candidate was being alluded to. Klarex did get the nod from the Marcos-led administration alliance to be the city’s official mayoral candidate so I wonder who could that be.
**************
Anyway as I had speculated the lineup for the Padayon Pilipino camp consisted of reelectionist officials but the surprise came with the inclusion of two ex-Provincial Board (PB) members that set their sights in the City Council. Of course both Suan and OSM confirmed during those same weekend interviews that incumbent Councilor Imee Moreno will be included in the lineup.
Also part of that lineup is Councilor Yevonna Emano (of course since her brother Congressman Yevgeny ‘Bambi’ Emano of Misamis Oriental’s second district is the Padayon Pilipino leader); Councilor Christian Ian Achas (who ran under Congressman Rufus Rodriguez’s banner but wasn’t included in the Uy-Rodriguez alliance of candidates) and the congressman’s younger brother Agapito Suan.
Lest I forget, also included in the Padayon Pilipino lineup is Councilor Jose Pepe ‘Joey’ Abbu Jr., the son of the late councilor Jose Pepe Abbu and Judge Flor Abbu. I found him to be quite articulate and direct during City Council sessions which served him in good stead. I have fond memories of his parents, who were constant sources of information in both the courts and the City Council during my tenure as media practitioner in Cagayan de Oro City.
The two ex-PB members that joined the Padayon Pilipino lineup included Dr. Jesus Jardin whom I believe is the incumbent president of the Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce. Jardin would be a great addition if elected to the City Council but the others I really don’t much care about. Sabal used to be a friend but is now a stranger to me.
Sabal and Wayne Militante, I believe, ran under the alliance of Misamis Oriental Gov. Peter Unabia and Bambi Emano in the PB but are now on their last terms. So them joining the Padayon Pilipino lineup in the city that has OSM as their standard bearer—whom they had been critical about in the 2022 elections—sounds weird. Politics indeed make strange bedfellows.
What does take the cake, however, is the selection of former councilor Zaldy Ocon as OSM’s running mate. Ocon’s selection was a bit of a controversy, Ocon being a bitter political enemy of the Emanos since Ocon entered local politics back in 2007. The irony of Ocon running under the Emano-led Padayon Pilipino isn’t lost among longtime local political observers in the City of Golden Friendship.
Ocon will be going up against Vice Mayor Jocelyn ‘Bebot’ Rodriguez whose initial combative exchange with the Klarex administration led bloc in the City Council eventually warmed over following their alliance for the 2025 elections. Ocon faces an uphill climb against Bebot who has both the profile and resources to back up her reelection bid.
************
Which brings us back to the Klarex-OSM contest that became an eventuality once the cracks between their erstwhile alliance emerged months after the 2022 elections. With the breakup came all sorts of ugly claims and counter claims made by both camps against each other and these allegations will be bandied about once the campaign period gets underway.
For OSM, his main sticking point against Klarex is the alleged gross mismanagement of the Klarex administration over Cagayan de Oro City Hall. In every interview he gives to local media or in every episode of his program, OSM never misses a chance to rail against Klarex’s alleged mismanagement of the city-owned JR Borja General Hospital resulting in a shortage of medicines and rooms for the city’s indigent patients.
OSM said governance under the Klarex administration had been replaced by the return to the ‘doleout delivery of services’ particularly in the Kasal Ng Bayan program which he and his supporters deemed to be an obviously cheap political campaign tool. Methinks I will write something about this in future installments.
At any rate, Klarex’s camp particularly his vocal cadre of spokespeople had pointed out several incomplete projects implemented during Moreno’s nine-year administration of City Hall as among his failings. They also questioned OSM’s handling of City Hall’s finances which supposedly resulted in Klarex being left with mounting unpaid debts.
That said, what is definite now is that the stage is set for the OSM-Klarex contest for Cagayan de Oro City’s socio-economic political future and to quote a now infamous TV phrase by actress Jodi Sta. Maria (courtesy of her role in that ABS-CBN 2022 drama The Broken Marriage Vow) ‘papunta pa lang tayo sa (we are still headed towards the) exciting part.’
Overly dramatic one-liners aside, the face-off between Klarex and OSM will be a true test of their respective legacies. While it’s sad to see them squaring off against each other after being allies for a good amount of time that I believe had done much for Cagayan de Oro City especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, their parting of ways is inevitable given the tenous nature of local politics in the country.