TORN BETWEEN 2 ALLIES

By ALWEN SALIRING and NITZ ARANCON
Correspondents

ALL eyes are shifting to Rep. Rolando “Klarex” Uy of the city’s 1st District who is in the position to tilt the balance, and whose endorsement of a mayoral candidate could spell the difference in next year’s elections.

But Uy is still undecided––he is practically torn between two political allies who would likely elbow each other and collide head-on during next year’s battle for the city’s leadership.

“Dili pa ako kasiguro,” said Uy of his preferred candidate for mayor. Ex-mayor Vicente Emano of the Padayon Pilipino is out of Uy’s political equation, and he is left with two choices: reelectionist Mayor Oscar Moreno or his challenger, Rep. Rufus Rodriguez of the city’s 2nd District.

Uy said he would make a decision next month, and announce his choice during the filing of certificates of candidacy. “Aron dili ma pre-empt ang katawhan didto na lang sa filing sa COC nako isulti,” he said.

The line between Moreno’s and Rodriguez’s groups was drawn on Sunday when the 2nd District congressman caught everyone by surprise with his announcement over radio station DxCC that he has decided to run for mayor in 2016. In 2013, all three––Moreno, Rodriguez, and Uy––joined forces to unseat Emano, the then reputed local political kingpin.

Until that year, Emano held an impressive record of being undefeated in Tagoloan town where he started as mayor, in Misamis Oriental which he served as governor, and in this city where he served four three-year office terms as mayor and one term as vice mayor.

The Moreno-Rodriguez-Uy team brought Emano to his knees and delivered the final blow a year after Typhoon Sendong significantly weakened his political grip in the city. The then mayor was blamed for city hall’s environmental policies and over how the local government responded after the disaster.

Emano is back and has announced he would run for mayor next year. His group is still convinced he could stage a successful comeback especially now that the group of his political nemeses has been fragmented following Rodriguez’s surprise announcement.

Uy said he respected Rodriguez decision. “Iya man nang katungod.” On Sunday, Rodriguez said his 2016 ticket would have Uy as congressional candidate in the 1st District. Uy’s chief of staff, Shiela Lumbatan, said the congressman has assured that he would be behind Moreno’s reelection bid. She said Uy was clear about this when he spoke to her and other supporters.

Lumbatan said Moreno and Uy talked on Sunday afternoon, hours after Rodriguez’s declaration, but she did not give details.

She said it was unlikely that Uy would support another mayoral candidate other than Moreno because “more than politics nang ilang panag-amigo.”

Lumbatan said Uy told them that Moreno went out of his way to support him (Uy) when he ran for mayor against Emano in 2010.

“Gikan siya (Moreno) nangampanya sa Misamis Oriental adtong panahona, mo-anhi pa gyud siya sa Cagayan de Oro kay mobatang ug kampanya ni Uy. Dili na malimtan ni Congressman Klarex,” Lumbatan said.