CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio will be the guest of honor of the mass oathtaking of barangay officials here on Friday.
Davao city information officer Jeffrey Tupas confirmed that Duterte-Carpio will grace the swearing-in as she “grants requests whenever she is free”.
“She always says that these events are only her way to thank those who supported [Pres. Rodrigo Duterte] during the campaign and the elections. Sort of giving back,” he said in an online interview Monday evening.
He noted that Duterte-Carpio will only be at the mass oathtaking as guest of honor and not to officiate the induction of some of the city’s newly elected barangay officials.
The city’s incumbent Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) president Yan Lam Lim told reporters earlier that Duterte-Carpio will, in fact, be making an appearance at said oathtaking.
Also, in a press conference on Monday, June 11, Lim has announced he has decided to sever his political ties with former mayor Vicente Emano to support incumbent Mayor Oscar Moreno in a move that will further upset the city’s political landscape.
Lim said he is leaving the Padayon Pilipino, a local political party founded and headed by Emano, to join Moreno’s group.
Moreno, a former member of the Liberal Party, is now affiliated with the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), the political party of Pres. Rodrigo Duterte and other top government officials.
His reason for leaving Padayon Pilipino and embracing the PDP-Laban, Lim said, was to maximize his role as the representative of the barangay chairs in the city council.
He added his only goal was to help the village leaders to access funds and projects for their communities, and the only way to do that is to establish an alliance with Moreno.
Lim said it has always been his agenda to extend assistance to the barangay chairs, as he emphasized that “you should go to the administration to help everybody,” in reference to village officials.
Lim, the ABC president for five years, intends to run again for the same position in the upcoming ABC election.
For his part, Moreno said he welcomed Lim as a new political ally as he is amenable to Lim to run again for the ABC leadership for “continuity of service.”
“With Councilor Lim’s joining us, we can now legislate more that will ultimately serve the people,” Moreno said.
Lim has assured that in his capacity as ABC president, he will serve as bridge between the city leadership and the barangay governments.
Prior to Lim’s decision to switch parties, Barangay Carmen chair Lorna Uy was being considered as candidate for the ABC presidency, but she declined the offer.
Uy’s husband, the city’s First District Rep. Rolando Uy, said it’s enough that she remains as Carmen village chair.
“This is enough for us. We don’t want the people to feel that we only want power, we want to share it,” the congressman said.
Uy’s son, Raineir Joaquin, is the city vice mayor, and their family has forged an alliance with Moreno for some years now to counter Emano’s political hold in the city.
In a statement, Emano said he was surprised but was not shocked of Lim’s leaving the Padayon Pilipino.
“I was surprised because we met last Saturday and he didn’t mention about leaving,” Emano said.
Misamis Oriental Gov. Yevgeny Vincente Emano, the former mayor’s son and a Padayon Pilipino official, said he was amenable to Lim’s switching to Moreno’s party.
“I am not against his leaving. If he thinks that it will be good for him personally and politically to serve the barangay chairs as the ABC president, then I’m all for it,” the governor said. (davaotoday.com)
