By Nora Soriño
Iligan City Bureau Chief

ILIGAN City ― The chair of a barangay in Cagayan de Oro City, in a statement on air yesterday, revealed that three of the residents there had already been released their “agricultural” loans.

Tignapoloan village chief Nancy Aban added that the three residents in her village had been released loans amounting to P250,000 each but they were able to receive only P120,000 each.

She then expressed concerns as the collateral of the loans, she said, were their lands. But she said she was assured by these people that they are still going to vote in Cagayan de Oro City as their registration here for the national elections next year has not been “erased” even as they had been required to register in Iligan city.

There are, to date, 46 of these people, she said, mostly Indigenous People

Aban added, she has issued a certification to the effect regarding these people as being residents of Cagayan de Oro, specifying their names, and other details, the date of the document of which is October 12. This will be available, she said to people in Iligan who are interested.

Earlier, Aban expressed her concern about a “medical mission” on July 26 this year, which she said had some government officials and employees of Iligan City like councilor Ian Uy and Doris Barsomo. Uy runs for vice mayor of this city while Barsomo, to note, is a regular employee under the City Mayor’s Office here.

The barangay chair said that the people from Iligan did not even have the “decency” of informing her of the matter and it was one of her councilors who informed her.

She said another such “mission” was scheduled and they planned to monitor it but it did not materialize. She then remembered that a Rolando Soong was there too in the July “mission” even as there was personnel from the Department of Agriculture and the City Assessor, the names of which she was not able to get. Soong, to note is a former member of the city council here representing Indigenous People.

It was also learned that there was a similar “mission” in Besigan, another upland barangay of Cagayan de Oro City.