City Vice Mayor Raineir Joaquin “Kikang” Uy on Thursday, March 8, said that at no time was there a vacancy in the mayoralty, hence, nothing to fill in.
Uy said there is no truth to reports that he received his appointment to the mayoralty from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) when the department supposedly served City Mayor Oscar Moreno a dismissal order last month.
"We have a legitimate mayor, no other than Mayor Oscar Moreno. In fact in every session, the city councilors we authorize him as mayor to enter into contracts because we recognize him still as the mayor," Uy said.
Uy, however, did not deny that his office received a copy of the Ombudsman dismissal order and the subsequent Court of Appeals (CA) decision, but said he was in Davao City at the time on official business.
"It's not true I left the city to avoid the issue. I was there because of the Vice Mayors League in Davao," he said.
The 34-year-old vice mayor said he does not know the complainant, lawyer Rico Pajo, but added he welcomes these actions.
Pajo filed the case before the Ombudsman last February 21 against Uy for “failure to perform his duty as mayor” the moment the DILG served a dismissal order to Moreno last February 7.
Uy also said he maintains a good working relationship with Mayor Moreno, saying they still have the same vision from the beginning and now.
"It's business as usual man at the city hall, work was not impeded and all the projects, policies and the system are in place man and in good hands," Uy said.