Security, solidarity, compassion

Bencyrus Ellorin

THE proximity of Cagayan de Oro from Marawi City poses security nightmare, at least, for agencies tasked to ensure peace and order in northern Mindanao’s capital.

The escalation of conflict unfortunately happened when inclusive development is starting gain roots in the region and its premier city.

But not all challenges posed by the Marawi crisis are insurmountable. In fact, as Mayor Oscar Moreno said in his Independence Day message that this also opens opportunities to rectify some historical injustices that have been traced as the root of the Mindanao conflict.

Looking at the glass half-full, Moreno talked of solidarity and compassion with the Maranao people who have sought shelter in the city and neighboring areas. We are Filipinos after all and victims of terrorism.

While acknowledging the initial discomfort the people may have felt with the exodus of evacuees from Marawi, Moreno challenged Cagayanons to rise above differences, develop solidarity with the Muslim brothers and act with compassion to victims of needless violence.

This, time he said, through solidarity and compassion, Cagayanons can spell the difference and rectify historical injustices.

Security, solidarity and compassion characterize City Hall’s response to the Marawi crisis.

The City Social Welfare and Development Office has been busy handing relief assistance to Maranaos who sought refuge with relatives here in the city, in nearby Barra, Opol and other Misamis Oriental towns. The office is priming to provide psycho-social interventions to survivors of the Marawi violence, like trauma-healing sessions with the survivors.

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Gov. Bambi Emano cannot wash his hands in the recent case faced by Moreno. Time does not erase memory but only reaffirmed their narrative at the Capitol.

At the start of his term at the Capitol in 2013,  Capitol’s propaganda machinery made noise about a “bankrupt” Capitol, and his legal group was busy reviewing past transactions and filed as many cases it could against Moreno.

Now that the Ombudsman has once again slapped the mayor with another dismissal order, the losing political camps were quick to say this case shows how corrupt Moreno is.

Corruption, according to Merriam Webster, is “dishonest or illegal behavior by powerful people.” Graft on the other hand is “the acquisition of gain (as money) in dishonest or questionable ways.

But do they really understand what they are talking about?

Like the Ajinomoto case, this case now involving the rental of heavy equipment for road projects involves procedural matters. It is not about money misspent or pocketed.

The cases are unlike the Scantel case where the Commission on Audit in a final ruling disallowed the spending of P31 million for a supposed barangay telephone project. The officials involved were told to refund the amount. Queer enough, no criminal indictment has been pursued in this case. More queer is the seeming disinterest of the Ombudsman in looking after this mess. The same way some cases filed with the Ombudsman Mindanao against the former administration for overpriced City Hospital acquisitions and being sat upon.

In fact, the COA Region 10 office had said in the equipment rental transaction, “It is incontrovertible that services have been rendered, services of equipment not found exceeding the prevailing rental rules, benefits enjoyed by the public, and the accomplishments duly recognized and cited.”

Moreno’s lawyer Dale Bryan Mordeno is confident the court would listen to the merits, the substantial issues in the case. “Murag pamasin ra man ning ila nga matangtang si Mayor Moreno. But their accusations will not stand in court.”

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III agrees. In his speech during the Independence Day ceremony at the Plaza Divisoria, Bello said he would have gladly volunteered to be Moreno’s lawyer in this case “og mudaug gyud kita.”

He also sniped at the Ombudsman: “Ayaw yata ng Ombudsman ng mabait at masipag.”

Yes, while the Ombudsman has been bestowed enormous powers by the Constitution, it is not infallible. The decision of the Court of Appeals in the Ajinomoto case is instructive.

Good enough, the Supreme Court decided in one of the Binay cases that the decisions of the Ombudsman can be reviewed by the appellate court. This decision obviously is to put in check the Ombudsman’s vast powers so that it would not be used as political tool by losing politicians and other losers.

In his press conference on Friday, Moreno was asked what he thought of his political opponents. Pausing before answering, the mayor said, “They are not in my thoughts.”  Many thought it was sarcasm, but the answer was actually a predicate to his point: I came to Cagayan de Oro to build. Which is actually unlike what Bambi is doing at the Capitol: Finding fault and trying to undo what he had done in the province.

While he is serious in facing this case, Moreno was emphatic that City Hall services and implementation of programs and projects should be business as usual.

“Ako ra kini nga kalbaryo… and ang akong abogado ra ma busy niini,” the mayor said in jest.