Susan’s Notes
By Susan Palmes-Dennis
ROCKINGHAM, North Carolina—I was kept busy attending to visiting family members and friends in the days leading up to the annual Thanksgiving event last Nov. 23 so please bear with me dear readers.
Not that I’ve been too busy; I was able to host a few episodes of my livestreaming program ‘Susan Live’ that was broadcast over at RPN-TV 5 dxKO in their TV and radio channels and in their Facebook page. My latest guest, in fact, was former Cagayan de Oro City mayor Oscar Moreno with whom I had an-hour long conversation on the issues of the day.
Specifically, my sitdown with OSM centered on his recent acquital of the corruption charges leveled at him by his political foes in Misamis Oriental province at the Sandiganbayan. That said, OSM’s criticism of next year’s P11.2 billion budget of City Hall supposedly cost his daughter Councilor Imee Moreno the chairmanship of the City Council’s committee on women and children’s affairs and committee on cooperatives.
What I can say is that despite being tearful, Councilor Imee Moreno was quite graceful in expressing her sentiments on losing her committee chairmanships to the council majority who are allied with Mayor Rolando ‘Klarex’ Uy’s administration. ‘Class act’ were the words that entered my mind on seeing the video of her being interviewed by local media asking about her ouster from her committee chairmanships.
The video was posted on Moreno’s official Facebook page and while critics may be quick to question the validity and sincerity of her statements, one is hard pressed to detect any sense of rancor or bitterness in her responses to local media’s queries on the issue. Clearly she learned a lot from her father, who while not a stranger to vitriolic attacks from trolls and critics alike, isn’t one to entertain or engage them in their mudslinging tactics.
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OSM’s criticism of the 2024 City Hall budget would have to be discussed for another day as I would have to do research on it but from what I gathered, he’s questioning the P2.7 billion loan to be contracted by the city to fund the construction of a new City Hall complex.
During council deliberations on the loan, Councilor Imee Moreno was specific in her decision to abstain from voting in support of the measure authorizing the mayor to enter into negotiations for the loan. She said there are still some questions about the loan which she felt should be answered, a rather safe position given her father’s sentiments on the issue.
That said, word about OSM’s statements must have reached the ears of his fiercest critics who whispered to Mayor Klarex, resulting in Imee’s ouster. I’ve been covering the local political landscape in Cagayan de Oro City for so long that I know when someone has lost political favor from the powers that be and Councilor Imee fits that bill.
She joins outgoing Councilor Ian Mark Nacaya, who lost his majority floor leader post to Councilor Edgar Cabanlas early this year. In confirming Moreno’s loss of her committee chairmanships, Cabanlas told her ‘welcome to the world of politics.’ Oh, what a sea change it has been for local politics ever since the change of administration in City Hall.
But then that’s the way that local politics is played and we won’t be surprised if Councilor Imee becomes a lot more vocal against the administration in the next few weeks entering 2024. So it was expedient for the administration to cut off their ties this early, seeing the inevitability of her father’s clash with the mayor in the runup to the 2025 elections.
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This would be interesting times ahead and I’m sure a lot of Kagay-anons fond of political intramurals are salivating at the thought of another titanic clash in the local elections. And the political operators and campaign trolls will have yet another reason to smile as their source of livelihood is assured all the way up to mid 2025 when Election Day comes around.
And if the October 2023 barangay elections are to be used as a yardstick, specifically in Barangay Carmen, we can reasonably expect a ton of vote-buying to occur with the going rate expected to be just as if not higher. Sadly we can expect voters to sell their votes to the highest bidder unless they experience a change of heart and vote with their hearts and minds rather than their greed for cash.
But I digress. Councilor Imee’s experience, while unfortunate, won’t spell doom to her fledgling political career anytime at least until she;s up for re-election if she is still up for it. Right now, she describes her status as an ‘independent’ and what she does will determine whether she will remain relevant to voters when 2025 comes around.
In the meantime, Councilor Imee should stick to her guns. While the administration and the opposition each push through with their respective agenda, she can become the voice of reason and temperament that the council needs. Amid the cacaphony of noise and bluster, of political grandstanding and showboating, Councilor Imee can be the voice that the public would pay heed and listen to.
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