SOCIAL development worker Ariel "Ayi" Hernandez, the touted running-mate of Mayor Oscar S. Moreno in 2022 asked the people of Misamis Oriental to look for candidates who have a track record and concrete governance platform that would redound to improved qualify of life in the province.
Hernandez, a palace peace consultant warned that politicians who use the money to attract supporters and eventually votes would most likely use their position of power to gain more wealth. "Ang nag-gamit kwarta sa piniliay, kwarta ra pod ang pangitaon kung makadaug," said Hernandez, a long-time civil society leader, one of the pioneers of the NGO Balay Mindanaw.
He added, the people should look for a solid political platform -- one that aims to improve the quality of life of the people.
As the hand-picked running mate of Mayor Moreno who is planning to run for governor in Misamis Oriental in 2022, Hernandez asked the people to look for governance platforms with outcomes on improved health services, quality, and accessible education, and inclusive growth through public infrastructure and inter-connectivity.
"The pandemic has taught us to really invest in the public health system; Education of the youth has also taken a beating due to the absence of face-to-face classes. These are the outcomes we should demand from our political leaders," Hernandez explained.
He added that public infrastructure and interconnectivity are important in inclusive growth. Through infrastructure and inter-connectivity full potential of agriculture and tourism, ecology and tourism can be achieved especially in the mountainous areas of Misamis Oriental.
Mayor Moreno, who is in the last year of third term as head of Northern Mindanao's premiere city and economic hub, said he wants to expand the development of the province from the coastal areas to the uplands. For this to happen, it would entail connecting roads in the uplands and building new roads to reach far-flung barangays.
During his nine-year stint as governor of Misamis Oriental (2004-2013), Moreno built over 600 kilometers of roads in the uplands. His provincial engineer then Roland Pacuribot that the road networks in the province increased to 1,063 kilometers in 2013 from 520 kilometers in 2013.
Ironically these rural roads have been neglected by the current administration.
Many are no longer passable. The new roads in the uplands of Opol that connect to the uplands of Manticao for example are no longer serviceable, said barangay captain Bonnie Ray Actub of barangay Bonbon, Opol.
The rural roads that also interconnect upland barangays in eastern Misamis Oriental towns of Kinoguitan - Sugbongcogon-Binuangan to Salay have also been neglected said Councilman Ben Galito of Brgy. Buko, Kinoguitan town.
Moreno said Misamis Oriental is not just about the coastal areas. "There is still huge potential for development in the uplands," he said.
The Moreno - Hernandez tandem plans to work for the integration of the Macajalar Bay area and the rest of western Misamis Oriental in the emerging Metropolitan Cagayan de Oro City. The duo has envisioned agriculture and tourism development in eastern Misamis Oriental.
"Improve living conditions should be people's motivation in choosing leaders, not money," Hernandez said in a virtual meeting attended by over 500 community leaders from the province last Thursday.
