CAGAYAN de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno on Monday, June 18, said the administration party has more than the needed numbers of barangay chieftains to win in the upcoming Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) elections.
The Padayon Pilipino and Moreno's PDP-Laban held separate each oath-taking ceremonies of barangay officials last week, and numbers show that there were 31 barangay captains in Cagayan de Oro who showed up at the Padayon oath taking while there were reportedly 41 barangay chieftains who participated during the city-initiated oath taking.
Moreno stressed there are more than 41 village chieftains who had pledged support for his administration.
"More than 41 kapitanes, gusto gani nila nga si Alam Lim ilang kandidato, kay nakabalo man sila na wala na silay numero (We have more than 41 barangay captains, they even want Alam Lim as their candidate because they know they don't have the numbers)," Moreno said in an interview.
Moreno said he welcomes more barangay chieftains to support his administration, pointing out that what he is after is the teamwork between the City Government and the barangay level, not politics.
"Wala may problema kung si Alam ling lang gihapon ilang kandidato, ang pulitka man ni Dongkoy ug Bambi ang labad kay puro babag (I don't have a problem that they will still choose Alam Lim as their candidate, the problem is actually Dongkoy and Bambi's politics because they are always opposing)," he said.
"Kung gusto sa mga kapitan mahimong kaabag, walay problema, bisan si Dongkoy (If the barangay captains want to join us, even Dongkoy, no problem," Moreno added.
The mayor also pointed out that there is no need to forge an alliance with Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio's regional political party as he is already with the President's party PDP-Laban.
"We're already part sa PDP-Laban, beyond that, nothing else. Si mayor Sara was invited by Councilor Alam Lim, at that time the invitation was extended, Alam Lim was still with the other party, of course I knew that there was another for the province, but I did not oppose it because Mayor Sara should be insulated to our political differences here," he said.
Duterte-Carpio was in the city last Friday, June 15, to witness and speak at the mass oath taking ceremonies of village chiefs from both Misamis Oriental and Cagayan de Oro City.