A tale of two gatherings

Letter . 

JANUARY 25 was the day when two events, both close to the heart of the President, were staged in Cagayan de Oro City. One was the Roa clan reunion held at the Limketkai Center Atrium and the other was the gathering of all barangay captains belonging to 2^nd congressional district of the city at the nearby Grand Caprice restaurant.

Except for the personal attachment of the President to both events, there appears no underlying prominence for the same. Lest it be forgotten, the President’s full name is Rodrigo Roa Duterte. The President was supposed to arrive at the reunion at 5 pm but was delayed by two hours as he first paid visit wounded soldiers.

Even as the occasion was purely a social and family affair for clan members, some politicians even if no drop of Roa blood runs in their veins, were seen jockeying for juiciest seats hoping to get personal endorsement or at least their hands raised by the President to gain political mileage to bolster their respective candidacies. City Mayor Oscar Seriña Moreno whose mother is Milagos Roa Seriña had earlier begged off from attending the affair to avoid injecting political color to the affair, which of course is a decent act to do.

To the dismay of the opportunist politicians, it was publicly made known that the President would not endorse or raise any hand of any candidate. What the President did was to thank the clan members for their support during his presidential bid and to renew family ties. But city mayoral candidate Pompee La Viña who was sacked from his national post, and made an example of the administration’ anti-corruption drive by Harry Roque during the Jan. 17 episode of “Ikaw na Ba” hosted by Mike Enriquez of DzBB, displayed his resourcefulness by unethically following the President at the back stage of Atrium and somehow put the President on the spot to raise his hand in the presence of non-Cagayan de Oro electorate but only members of PSG providing security. Of all places, his hand was raised in the backstage captured by clear videos. That’s why his candidacy stinks.

At about 9 pm, the President transferred to Grand Caprice where 54 out of 56 barangay captains of District 2 only, were in attendance. Other than the barangay captains, only senatorial candidate Bong Go, a general, PSG details and 2^nd congressional candidate Alam Lim seated beside the President were admitted inside the room. What happened at Grand Caprice was a complete reverse of what transpired at the Roa clan reunion. After warning the barangay captains not to be protectors of illegal drug personalities but should cooperate closely with police authorities, the President suddenly raised the hand of Alam Lim and urged the barangay captains to support him. That was the second time the President raised the hand of Alam Lim. The first time was in Malacanang Palace when he was invited to the state dinner on Jan. 18 in honor of Sri Lankan president.

Of course, politicians headed by Pompee La Viña attempted to intrude into the gathering of barangay captains but were effectively barred  from entering by PSG details.

The sincerity of the President’s support for Alam Lim consists of not only raising his hand but also by talking personally to the barangay captains to give him their unqualified support along with their constituents, narrating how close is Alam’s father-in-law, the Uy family, in Davao to the President. The interaction among the barangay captains and the President lasted until 1 am. –Teo Lacha, Cagayan de Oro, jeremiahla46@gmail.com