CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY , Philippines – They are all connected to Pres. Rodrigo Duterte through political party affiliations, but three of the five of the city’s mayoralty candidates are all running under different parties.
Based on their certificates of candidacy (COC), Candy Lourdes Darimbang belongs to the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP), Jose Gabriel “Pompee” La Viña is affiliated with the Padayon Pilipino-Hugpong ng Pagbabago (Padayon-HNP) coalition, and incumbent mayor Oscar Moreno is the local candidate of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban).
Other contenders for the mayorship are Benjamin Contreras and Felix Borres Jr., both independent candidates.
Darimbang’s supposed running mate lawyer Reuben Canoy, the veteran radio commentator and former city mayor, whose family also owns the Radio Mindanao Network, has begged off as the last day of the filing of the COC closed Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 17.
Posted Wednesday last week on the Facebook page Reuben R Canoy Perspective was this message: “We would like to thank you for your continuing support. Atty. Canoy has DECLINED the invitation of Partido Federal ng Pilipinas to run as vice mayor on its slate for 2019, citing his advanced age and health issues as reasons.”
La Viña is running in tandem with former city mayor Vicente Emano, who has been in politics for almost 30 years, starting as mayor of his hometown in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental, then as Misamis Oriental governor, and before he lost to Moreno in the 2013 elections, was the mayor of the city for three terms and vice mayor for one term.
Emano founded the Padayon Pilipino, a regional party that has aligned with Hugpong ng Pagbabago recently. Emano’s son Yevgeny Vincente is the governor of the province, while his daughter Nadya Emano-Elipe is a city councilor.
Former 1st district congressman Rufus Rodriguez, national chair of the Centrist Democratic Party of the Philippines, is making a comeback, as his party has allied with Padayon-HNP.
Moreno, for his part, has teamed up for the second time with the incumbent Vice Mayor Raineir Joaquin “Kikang” Uy, whose father Rolando is the city’s first district representative.
Darimbang is a former city councilor who ran but lost as congresswoman in the city’s first district in the 2016 local elections. Her husband, retired Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board-10 regional director Mandangan Darimbang, is gunning for a seat in the city council.
La Viña is said to be one of Duterte’s campaign leaders in the 2016 presidential election. His mother, Lourdes La Viña, was a former city councilor and one of the few women who sat in the Cagayan de Oro’s legislature in the ‘80s.
Moreno, who used to be congressman in Misamis Oriental and provincial governor of Misamis Oriental before he ran against then-mayor Emano and won in 2013, is on his last term as the city’s chief executive.
All parties that the candidates belong to are identified with Duterte, although the President’s official party is the PDP-Laban, of which he is the chairman.
Darimbang said she wants to implement Duterte’s anti-drug and anti-corruption campaigns if she wins as mayor.
She said her decision to run has the blessing of Duterte. “I wouldn’t run for this position if there was no assurance that I will not be supported by the President.”
La Viña said his group will be formally endorsed by Presidential Daughter and Davao City mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio in the coming days.
La Viña also lambasted Moreno’s numerous graft cases in the Ombudsman and Sandiganbayan calling him “the most anti-Duterte mayor” in the entire country.
He claimed that Duterte has already been apprised of Moreno’s cases and has, in fact, deployed a team to look into these cases. He did not elaborate.
La Viña said it’s “an insult to the President that he (Moreno) claimed they were batchmates at San Beda” and yet the incumbent mayor is facing graft charges. Both Duterte and Moreno studied law at San Beda College.
“I am saying this because the President himself is free of corruption as his platform is to go after corrupt officials,” La Viña said.
For his part, Moreno said “I don’t need to prove I’m different. In fact, we have shown already what we can do.”
Moreno said he is seeking reelection not to defeat his opponents but to serve the people of Cagayan de Oro.
Earlier this week, there was an attempt for the PFP to formally forge a political alliance with CDP and Padayon-HNP, but it didn’t push through.
According to Rodriguez, their group has already decided to field La Viña and Emano as mayor and vice mayor, respectively, and that they wanted Darimbang to run as the 1st district representative.
Darimbang said she has already expressed her intention to the CDP and Padayon-HNP to run as vice mayor, but it didn’t fall through when La Viña entered the picture.
Darimbang said she was dismayed of this prompting her to run as mayor under the PFP.
Although she was open to any changes in the line-up, Rodriguez said their decision is already final.(davaotoday.com)
