Councilman hits Roxas on Emano cases

A SUPPORTER of Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Vicente Emano said on Thursday that he is not impressed with the performance of newly appointed Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Mar Roxas.

City Councilor Simeon Licayan said what is customary for someone who just had an appointment is to place his office in order by getting to know the employees, familiarizing the areas and studying the assignments that were left behind by his predecessor.

Licayan said what Roxas did clearly showed his motive to strengthen his party “so there will be no stopping when he runs for president in 2016.”

On his first day of appointment, Roxas ordered for a speedy investigation of Emano’s cases, which has been set on September 10 and 11 in Cagayan de Oro.

But Licayan said perhaps the rush decision of Roxas, making Emano first on his list, was politically motivated and slanted to those who have the intention to win the mayoralty seat in the 2013 election.

For his part, Emano said he will definitely face the charges filed against him and will wait for whatever decisions from the DILG.

Aside from the administrative case of gross negligence and dereliction of duty filed against Emano by Save CDO Now Movement in connection with the December 17, 2011 flashfloods that hit Cagayan de Oro, the case of the Pelaez bridge painted with purple and the Carmen Market versus Jacky Ching, who was also summoned by Roxas, will also be included.

Emano wondered why his cases were made very specific “in just a nick of time” when Roxas has so many things to do as the newly appointed DILG Secretary.

“Why he would put the blame on me when previous administrations before me allowed the residents to settle down in the island?” he said. (Nicole J. Managbanag)