Mayor hit for cash gifts to newlyweds

MAYOR Jose Cuyos (right, in Barong Tagalog) of Rosario, Agusan del Sur province, and his wife and running mate, Juvy (second from right), greet newly married couples as the mayor handed them cash gifts. CHRIS V. PANGANIBAN / INQUIRER MINDANAO

ROSARIO, Agusan del Sur—The reelectionist mayor here has shelled out P221,000 from out of his own pocket as he gave away a cash gift of P1,000 to each of the 221 newlywed couples during a mass wedding that he officiated at the town gymnasium on Friday.

But Mayor Jose Cuyos’ gesture was criticized by his political detractors, saying this smacked of vote-buying. They said Cuyos was joined by candidates for councilor under his slate, including his wife, Juvy, who is running for vice mayor, during the event. These candidates shook hands with the newlyweds as Cuyos handed the cash gifts, placed inside a small red envelope, to them.

Asked about the cash gift amid the election period, Cuyos said: “There’s nothing wrong [with that] because I have been doing this every year since I became mayor… Whether it’s during the election [season] or not, I always give away gifts to poor couples.”

Vice Mayor Julie “Onyot” Chua, a former ally of Cuyos, said the distribution of cash gifts was a glaring display of vote-buying. He said it is up to the Commission on Elections to act on this.

Chua said if Cuyos had clear intentions of not using the occasion for partisan politics, other local officials like him should have been invited to the event.

“This is clear show of politicking even as the campaign period for the local election has yet to start,” he said.

The scene at the mass wedding, the biggest since Cuyos assumed office, signaled the start of the battle among politicians in this gold-rich town where poverty incidence had been pegged by the municipal planning and development office at 73 percent.

Cuyos, who is running under the National Unity Party, broke ties with incumbent local officials after he named his wife as running mate. He also presented a new slate of eight candidates in the town council.

Chua, who is seeking his last term, is running with Coldo Ocite, a brother of Vicente Ocite, a local miner who ran and lost to Cuyos in the bitterly fought 2010 mayoral election where vote-buying had been reported.

Cuyos, a former habal-habal (passenger motorcycle) driver plying the mining areas of this town, became wealthy after a tunnel he operated struck large deposits of high grade gold. Chris V. Panganiban, Inquirer Mindanao