ROCKINGHAM, North Carolina—By the time I wrote this and it sees print (online or in paper), September 30 had long passed and we have one week in October to know and confirm who will run in next year’s Philippine mid-term elections.
As far as the national scene is concerned, the attention will focus on the senators and lawmakers, who can help shape and actualize the development agenda of the incumbent Marcos administration in the next three years. The excitement in the midterm elections lies in the mayoral to gubernatorial posts since they will help shape the battleground for the presidential elections of 2028.
Anyone who’s following the national political developments knows that the camp of Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio is on the ropes following her exit from the Department of Education and the intensified investigations into her budget which included questionable expenditures like the publication of a children’s book whose content bore the brunt of social media derision and outright suspicion.
This early, there will be political lines drawn between the Romualdez and Duterte camps—House Speaker Martin Romualdez clearly touting himself as a presidential frontrunner—and there will be jockeying among the local politicians and incumbent officials on whom to support since these two contenders will be looked on to pump the campaign funds in exchange for the local campaign support in 2028.
And this jockeying on whom to support in 2028 is reflected in the local political scene, though they would keep hush-hush about it until the time comes. Thus it’s not surprising to see incumbent officials like Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Rolando ‘Klarex’ Uy avoiding talk about whom he’s supporting in the national scene since 2028 is still far off.
Speaking of Uy, the announcement of the political alliance between Uy and the Rodriguezes at the Aquilino Pimentel Jr. International Convention Center last Saturday (Sept. 28) in Barangay Indahag, Cagayan de Oro City is but a mere formality since in the weeks before the event, the mayor had grown chummy with Vice Mayor Rodriguez and Congressman Rufus.
So it is with bated breath that we wait on whether or not former mayor Oscar Seriña-Moreno (OSM) makes good on his word to run against Mayor Klarex in the 2025 elections. And based on a recent press conference with local media, all signs are pointing to a Klarex-OSM match come May which Mayor Klarex had publicly declared his desire for.
And OSM didn’t mince words in describing how the city is being run under the Klarex administration. He said Cagayan de Oro City had been ‘mismanaged’ and is ‘hemorraghing’ insofar as City Hall’s finances in providing services to the people and paying their employees on time are concerned. A host of problems indeed that OSM felt were simply neglected by the Klarex administration.
Though not yet officially confirming, OSM did say he was preparing for a 2025 run and my gut feeling is that if he does, he will do so with substantial campaign fund muscle. I’m not privy to the sources but those in the know will certainly ascertain who will be his supporters. As far as Klarex is concerned, for now he aligned with the Rodriguezes and prepared the grounds for his reelection which is quite extensive based on what I heard.
The Uy-Rodriguez alliance meant that the merging of their choice candidates in the City Council run and their lineup consists of old faces as well as relatives or loved ones of councilors who are on the way out and thus need a replacement through which they will continue to pursue their development agenda. Of that lineup, the oldest would be Councilor Edgar Cabanlas, a veteran of many a political battle who will eventually make his exit anytime soon.
As to the accusations of incomplete projects that were started during his administration, OSM countered that it was up to the Office of the Building Official (OBO) and the City Engineering Office to expedite the completion of said projects. He also pointed out the presence of ‘fixers’ in the OBO which he claimed returned in force when he left office in 2022.
OSM also said reforming the OBO necessitated the creation of an online system that was developed by the University of Southern Philippines (USTP) to process documents during his watch but which OSM claimed had been abandoned at the time Klarex assumed office. Pretty strong words but as to whether that would weigh heavily on the public’s mind remains to be seen.
What can be seen at this point though is that Klarex and Rodriguez are ready and unless there’s a last minute development, it looks to be a stable alliance for now. OSM would be hard pressed to find people who would run under his slate and those who would do so will naturally expect funding to finance their respective candidacies.
Expect the campaign period to turn nasty come next year if and when OSM decides to run for mayor again next year. And it won’t be farfetched if OSM decides to tie up with Cong. Lordan Suan of the city’s 1st district who will square off anew against the mayor’s son Raineir Joaquin ‘Kikang’ Uy. Oh things will be interesting so watch out for the next few months of this year for developments.
