CAGAYAN de Oro City Vice Mayor Raineir Joaquin "Kikang" Uy said on Tuesday, March 5, he would step down if aspiring mayor Jose Gabriel "Pompee" La Viña wins the mayoral post in the May elections.
Uy made the statement in response to Mayor Oscar Moreno's pronouncement in February, that he would resign if former Mayor Vicente "Dongkoy" Emano returns to the City Hall as head of the legislative body.
"Kung si Pompee sad modaog (if Pompee wins), so do I," Uy said.
He also said the City Council has already established teamwork and partnership with the executive branch to advance further the development and interest of the people, and if the leadership of Moreno and the "Kaabag" council remains, he said, the city will become more progressive in terms of education, infrastructure, housing programs, among others.
"Nakita nato gitagaan og kaangayan tanan ni Mayor Moreno ang tanang sector busa nagtuo kita nga kung siya ang magdumala maayo ang kaugmaon sa dakbayan (We have seen that Mayor Moreno gave equal importance to all sectors, that is why we believe that if he will lead, the future will be good)," he said.
Uy said Moreno's challenger has not laid a concrete program for the city yet, and that it would be hard to cooperate with others who have opposing goals and aspirations.
No problem
On the other hand, La Viña said he would appreciate the resignation of Uy once he takes the mayoral seat.
"Thank you Kikang for supporting our dream of a new Cagayan with zero corruption. Your resignation will be much appreciated," La Viña said.
"Also, to clarify, you (Uy) will also resign when Moreno is disqualified, right?" he asked rhetorically. But La Viña said Uy should not worry because Emano will win by a landslide.
He also said the vice mayor may not have understood the platforms and plans that he aspired for the city which include the establishment of a city university and programs to address perennial problems on traffic, urban flooding, among others.
"Basin tungod kay walay pangawat sa akong programa ug anti-drug ko. Wala siya kasabot. Kung ako sa iya, dili siya manghilabot sa ako kay naa ra ba siya’y mga kaso sa Ombudsman. Basig magka-interes ko. Ulahi pirmi ang pagbasol (He didn't understand because there is no corruption in my programs, and I am against illegal drugs. If I were him, he should not bother me because he have cases in the Ombudsman that I might be interested of)," La Vina said, implying that he might visit these cases for review.
Uy, however, said that he would just ignore trolls in social media who throw "baseless" issues against him.
"Kanang trolls daan namana sige nata atakihon (Trolls have long been there to attack us). Ang problema dili nato mapugngan kay labi na demokrasya man ta (The problem is we can't stop them because we are a democracy)," Uy said.
"Maayo lang unta og tinuod nga mga issues kay atong angkonon pero wala may kamatuoran so pasagdan na lang kay basin nasuya lang (It would be good if the issues they hurled were true so that we may own it, but all of it were false, so we just let the trolls be because they were just begrudged)," he added.