CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—In what was considered a rare event, local political opponents gathered on Monday night in one venue for the Inquirer’s Town Hall series ahead of the presidential debate here on Sunday.
Incumbent Mayor Oscar Moreno and his opponent, 2nd district Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, showed up at the Inquirer Town Hall, but what was noticeable was the absence of the third major mayoralty contender, former mayor Vicente Emano.
Attending in behalf of Emano was former city councilor Ian Mark Nacaya, who is eyeing a seat at the city council after a three-year hiatus at the local legislature.
Moreno is the Liberal Party’s official candidate, while Rodriguez is the standard-bearer of the newly-organized Centrist Democratic Party. Both Nacaya and Emano both belong to the Padayon Pilipino, a regional party the latter founded and headed.
Asked about Emano’s absence, Nacaya said it was not specified that the former mayor should join Moreno and Rodriguez in the Town Hall discussion.
The invitation was for a representative to attend. It did not directly say that the (mayoralty candidate should be here). In fact, they wanted a maximum of 10 persons from each group to attend. I was appointed by my group to represent, Nacaya told the Inquirer.
The forum, he added, could be a template for the upcoming presidential debate at the Capitol University on Sunday.
“I believe that this set up (Town Hall), the people can voice out and demand answers from the candidates, who in turn can (enlighten the audience),” he said.
In a separate interview, Rodriguez said: “It brought us, the candidates, together and we have shown civility that despite the heated campaign, we are in one forum, and that we were able to discuss the issues that the sectors asked.”
Rodriguez said he was grateful to the Inquirer for allowing the local candidates to answer questions from the sectors so that they would know each and every program that they have.
“It’s a very good dry run for the presidential campaign because we were also asked by the moderator the questions that what Mindanao would wish the candidates would address, and I have already stated in my part that federalism in an issue that they should be able to make a stand on,” Rodriguez said.
John Nery, Inquirer.net editor in chief and the forum moderator, informed the audience that the local races in Cagayan de Oro were worthy of close national attention. Jigger J. Jerusalem, Inquirer Mindanao