CAGAYAN de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno on Saturday, July 31, told an officer of the city police to resign after the latter accused him of being uncooperative with the implementation of focus area containment.
Moreno also called the police officer "very unprofessional."
Lieutenant Colonel Lemuel Gonda, deputy chief for police operations of the Cagayan de Oro City Police, said in an interview by a social media platform-based news service, Northern Mindanao Daily Source, that the city mayor did not issue any executive orders regarding the implementation of the focus area containment.
"The city mayor is not cooperative. [Wala] nag issue og executive orders with regards to focused area containment. There is already an advisory coming form DILG secretary that was dated on July 23, 2021 on focus area containment on the presence of Delta variant," Gonda said.
Gonda further said the City Government has no clear border control measures, adding that even though the city is under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), the monitoring of people entering the city is relaxed.
"Wala ta'y border control measures. Ang gabantay lang diha ang atong kapulisan, ga check sa mga IDs, when it comes to entry sa Cagayan de Oro. Wala na tay laing measures nga gikan sa local government sa Cagayan de Oro," Gonda said.
He added that the city's quick response (QR) code is not effective as well.
The police deputy cited last year's measures of monitoring of people entering the city as more effective as there are strict monitoring efforts at the airport, seaport, and bus terminals.
Gonda also challenged the City Health Office to identify which areas in the city have the highest number of Covid-19 cases.
Moreno, for his part, called Gonda's issues as "demolition job" and "black propaganda," saying that the police deputy's comments are politically motivated.
"I don't think this is already part sa iyang function as a police officer and [he's] very unprofessional. Akong tan-aw naa na siya'y plano mag entra sa politika," Moreno said.
"Mas maayo pa mag resign ka og gusto ka mo-entra'g politika, you better resign and kompanya diha. Wala'y problem na. You want to resort to demolition, black propaganda, go ahead. Wala ko'y problema diha. Pero do it as an honorable man," he added.
The city mayor further said if Gonsa has issues, he should have said it during the meeting with the city's Emergency Operations Center.
Moreno also said the idea of implementing a granular lockdown is not appropriate at this time, stating that last year's focused containment was ineffective as its was difficult to sustain.
"Karon, wala na ko mo-impose kay nakita ko man kanang focused containment ang difficulty sa pag sustain ana," Moreno said.
"Kinsa'y mag-atiman? Kanang mga ubang mga limitations, makalahutay ba atong mga kapulisan? Dili biya na nila kaya nga 24/7, walay undang kada-adlaw ing-ana," he added.
Moreno said instead of the granular lockdown, he was stricter when it comes to home quarantine and Covid-positive individuals were immediately extracted and isolated.
"Kay wala man ta mag-issue og executive order, ingon dayon nga uncooperative. Wala na kasabot si Gonda what he's talking about," Moreno said.
The city mayor said that Gonda is either interested in politics or somebody is pushing him to make those comments.
"Pero that is very unprofessional. Wala man ko'y problema kay Gonda mao nang dili lang ko tumpang ana," Moreno said.
"Ako na lang sya gihangyo to resign and join politics kay mao man ang imong gusto so that I have a chance to campaign against you. I will not allow that chance to pass," he added.