By SHIELA MAE BUTLIG
Correspondent
“I WILL not leave Mayor Moreno.”
With this, Rep. Rufus Rodriguez of the city’s 2nd District categorically declared his support for the announced plan of Mayor Oscar Moreno to seek reelection next year even as he doused cold water on calls for him to seek the mayoral post.
Rodriguez was all praises for Moreno. He said, “No, I am not leaving Mayor Moreno because like me, he has done his job for the city of Cagayan de Oro.”
He also strongly denied talk that his relations with Moreno have been strained, and laughed off Councilor Alexander Dacer’s pronouncements that he (Rodriguez) was about to sever his political ties with the mayor.
“Our relationship is OK contrary to that pronouncement,” he said.
Rodriguez joined Moreno in Divisoria on Friday in leading the city’s celebration of the country’s 117th Independence Day, a move that sent a message that the two have remained friends and political allies.
Rodriguez also denied that he has commissioned a survey supposedly to help him assess his winning chances if he ran for mayor.
He said, “Wala ko nagpa-survey diha and no, wala pa koy plano kung modagan pa ba ko sa 2016.”
Rodriguez is serving his third and final office term as representative of the city’s 2nd District.
His recent pronouncements were consistent with his 2014 statements that he and his family were fully supporting Moreno.
He said he was still focused on his work as chairman of a House ad hoc committee that is pushing for the passage of the proposed Bangsamoro law.
It was too early, he said, to talk about his political plan because “layo pa man ang October,” the start of the election period.
Rodriguez and his family forged a political alliance with Moreno shortly before the 2013 elections, a move seen by many as a contributory factor to the defeat of the then reelectionist mayor Vicente Emano.
In 2014, Rodriguez told the Cagayan de Oro Press Club (COPC) he has decided not to push through with his plans to seek a Senate seat because of his poor showing in the surveys. He said he would rather support a winning presidential candidate, and become a member of the next President’s cabinet.
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