Duterte friend seeks Cagayan de Oro post

DUTERTE FRIEND Girlie Balaba (center), a close friend of President Duterte, poses with her political allies in Cagayan de Oro City—Mayor Oscar Moreno (left) and Vice Mayor Joaquin Uy. —JB R. DEVEZA

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — After Sara Duterte’s Hugpong ng Pagbabago (HNP) picked another candidate for mayor to support in the 2019 elections here, the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) under Mayor Oscar Moreno decided to take under its wing a longtime friend of President Rodrigo Duterte as a candidate for councilor.

Girlie Balaba, a former television reporter in Davao City, announced at a press gathering here that she was running under the administration PDP-Laban party of Moreno.

Balaba faced the media for the first time on Friday, Oct. 5, at a restaurant here as part of PDP-Laban candidates for councilors.

Balaba, a Cagayan de Oro City native, was said to have been close to then Mayor Rodrigo Duterte when she worked as a TV reporter in Davao City for six years.

“Girlie approached me and told me she wants to serve the people of Cagayan de Oro,” Moreno said .

He said he saw no problem regarding Balaba’s candidacy on the one hand, and PDP-Laban’s relationship with Sara Duterte’s HNP, on the other.

If it pushes through, it would be Balaba’s first foray into politics in the city.

HNP has reportedly forged an alliance with the party of former Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Vicente “Dongkoy” Emano, Moreno’s political archrival.