Moreno’s final three years

Renato Tibon .

“Cagayan de Oro is fortunate in having a mayor who is interested in the common good. This will be his last term.” -Fr. Emeterio Barcelon, SJ

I PERSONALLY met and shook hands with Mayor Oscar S. Moreno only three times in the course of his two terms since 2013. First when we were introduced during the campaign for his first term (our parties were allies) against the Padayon-Pilipino candidates; the second was when he was invited as guest speaker during the Kiwanis Philippine South District Division 4A’s Turnover and Installation of new officers in 2014 where I was the outgoing lieutenant governor and the last time during the Orientation for the EU-KAS-LMMP-CDPI sponsored Integrity for Job (I4J) project in 2016 with CDO among the pilot cities and where I was one of the facilitators.

I don’t know if he has a bad memory or just couldn’t place me then because while speaking (I was directly in front, attentively listening to him berating his officials, many of them conspicuously absent) he looked at me and asked what city department I belonged. I’m still shaking my head in amusement. That’s as far as our acquaintance came and went. I became a staunch critic in social media soon after his political leanings arguably manifested favoritism, intolerance to criticisms and accentuated by those cases filed one after the other prompting supporters to hang streamers around the city seeking “Justice for Moreno.”   

If my critiques were noticed at all, they’re so inconsequential to cause concern except that of a “Roa” relative who unceremoniously increased the family’s house rent after my rants apparently reached them. We moved since then but I decided to be more cautious. Discretion is the better part of valor. Despite my turnabout criticizing him and his “kaabags,” promising to keep my peace, in print or broadcast during the last campaign, I will not be an apologist for him with a sudden Damascene conversion.

With all those cases dogging him from the Provincial Capitol to the City Hall, he could be anytime suspended, dismissed or worse jailed. But I wish he could surmount all his legal woes. The mayor deserves a break, for the good of Cagayan de Oro. Like him and some former mayors who were not native-born but who served the city satisfactorily, they’re accorded a place in history where they can leave a legacy. With a resounding mandate for a final term, Kagayanons expect him to prove detractors wrong, that those cases are but political harassments and that with a majority of “compliant” Council members, he could pass vital measures which, allegedly were denied him by opposition councilors, setting back the city’s progress. The city needs to regain its place among the most progressive, resilient and livable cities in the country. With the active involvement of the congressmen of the two districts, perhaps this time it can get that elusive “Seal of Good Governance.” That surely, would be an added feather on his cap.

But first and foremost, he and the Council have to tackle the perennial problems badgering the city. In its recent survey conducted during the 2019 campaign period, the research center XU-Kuro (Xavier University-Kinaadman University Research Office) revealed several areas which residents of the city consider as priority concerns. These practically negates the accomplishments contained in the Mayor’s Report in 2017. According to ranks in which they were categorized, these barangay issues are as follows:

• Economic Issues (Livelihood/Income generating projects; Employment/jobs)

• Peace and Order (Illegal drugs, Illegal parking of vehicles; Traffic jam and Theft/robbery)

• Basic Services (Drainage/canals; Water supply; Roads and Medical Supplies of Rural Health Units)

• Local Governance (Corruption at the City Level; Implementation of Barangay Ordinances; Corruption at the Barangay Level and Implementation of City Ordinances)

• Environment (Garbage; Sanitation; Cleanliness of seashore, river and/or creek and disaster preparedness)

Mayor Moreno runs under his ongoing platform of “Primehat” (Peace and Order and Poverty Alleviation, Revenue Generation, Infrastructure, Metropolization, Education and Environment, Health and Hospital Services, Agricultural Productivity and Traffic, Transportation and Tourism) and most of the issues cited are contained in it except the issue of corruption which can be easily remedied by more transparent reporting in revenue collection and expenditure reporting. This should consume all the mayor’s waking hours and it bears watching.

In COA’s Annual Audit Report, CDO posted an annual income in 2017 of over P3 billion, a mark improvement of his previous year’s performance. Last year, the Council approved a budget of P6.3 billion despite a promise they won’t increase taxes but assuming a collection of another P3 billion, each year up to the end of the mayor’s term, the money would be more than adequate to meet these challenges. It would be preposterous to assume the mayor would leave any surplus for the incoming administration in 2022. That or my reading of him is way off mark.

All eyes would be on his final three years in office. Will he bequeath a legacy of prosperity or worry? I wish him well.

(Renato Gica Tibon is a fellow of the Fellowship of the 300, an elite organization under Centrist Democracy Political Institute  [CDPI] with focus on political technocracy. He  holds both position as political action officer and program manager of the Institute. He is the former regional chairman for Region 10 and vice president for Mindanao of the Centrist Democratic Party of the Philippines [CDP].)