Oca, Rufus, Dongkoy ask each other tough questions

By NITZ ARANCON
Correspondent

MAYOR Oscar Moreno, Rep. Rufus Rodriguez of the city’s 2nd District, and former mayor Vicente Emano asked each other straightforward  questions when the mayoral candidates faced each other in a public debate organized by ABS-CBN-Northern Mindanao at the Cagayan de Oro College-Phinma last weekend.

Moreno was asked how the ombudsman’s decision on his perpetual disqualification from public office would affect city hall if he gets reelected in May in the event that the ruling becomes final.

Emano was asked why he did not relocate people living in dangerous areas before typhoon Sendong struck in 2011, and why bodies were dumped at the city’s sanitary landfill in Carmen.

And Rodriguez was asked to name the presidential candidate he was supporting.

The three were given 90 seconds each for their opening statements, and to tell the audience why they were running for mayor. People from the audience were then allowed to ask them questions.

After drawing lots, Rodriguez asked Emano about the way city hall handled the “Sendong” devastation, and the former mayor explained that there was no way the local government could relocate people because the typhoon caught everyone by surprise.

Emano also denied that bodies of Sendong victims were dumped, explaining that city hall merely brought the dead near the city dump because the city’s morgues could no longer squeeze in more bodies.

Moreno was the second to ask, and he directed his question to Rodriguez. He asked the congressman to be clear on the presidential candidate he is supporting.

Rodriguez said he was personally for Liberal Party candidate Manuel Roxas II but his group, the Centrist Democratic Party (CDP), has yet to decide. He said the CDP would meet this week, and make a decision on which presidential candidate to support.

Emano then asked Moreno  about the ombudsman’s decision to perpetually dismiss him from public office as a result of the controversial city hall-Ajinomoto tax settlement. Moreno maintained his innocence even as he denied that he was guilty of grave misconduct, explaining that the settlement was between Ajinomoto and the city treasurer.

The three political rivals were cordial with each other before and after the debate, even smiling at each other and the crowd. After the debate, they even held each other like long lost friends.

There were other mayoral candidates but they were a no-show.