CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — Mayor Klarex Uy and former Mayor Oscar Moreno ran under the OneMisOrOneCDO political alliance in the 2022 elections.

The message of OneMisOrOneCDO for Cagayan de Oro was continuity of governance. For Misamis Oriental where the former mayor ran for governor, the messaging was for political unity and a shared development path for both local governments separated administratively and politically but belonging to one geographical location, and history.

When Mayor Klarex took over City Hall, it turned out that things were not as bright and beautiful as advertised. The new mayor faced a myriad of problems.

The former mayor was said to have expressed interest in becoming the consultant of the City Health Insurance Office — the cash cow of JR Borja General Hospital and the City Health Office.

In hindsight, it was good Mayor Klarex turned down the offer of the former mayor to help his administration. Perhaps scorned by the denial, the former mayor started to rant about the supposed lack of appreciation and even knowledge of Mayor Klarex to the principle of continuity of governance.

His arrogance may have been triggered by the thought that he is a kingmaker who can breathe down the neck of Mayor Klarex in the guise of helping the new mayor navigate the myriad of problems he left.

From the get-go of the 2022 elections, Mayor Klarex Uy was never primed as a placeholder. That the former mayor failed in his return to Misamis Oriental does not mean he can come back as he wishes as head of the city.

Perhaps for lack of messaging to prop up his political image, and even cover-up, the former mayor is very noisy in accusing Mayor Klarex of bungling this and that flagship projects of his.

Mayor Klarex is not into fault finding. He was silently solving problems and deficiencies of the former administration.

However, the recalcitrant behavior of the former mayor may pry open the list of problematic, if not downright, anomalous projects he left. And the list can go on ad nauseam.

We start with the vaunted health and education program:

The redemption of the JR Borja Hospital from death bed was one of the biggest achievements of the former mayor. But did he leave the city’s hospital system in good health? Wait.

Building around 800 classrooms is also one of the wonders of the previous administration. Did he make that much? Wait.

The former mayor dares to claim that Mayor Klarex has squandered his legacies in health and education. Now, back to reality, what looked good on paper is not necessarily reflected on the ground.

On the JR Borja Hospital and the satellite hospitals in Lumbia and Tablon. The Lumbia Hospital is now open while the Tablon Hospital cannot be used because there is no road.

The former mayor announced that the much-improved JR Borja hospital in Barangay Carmen already qualifies as a Level II hospital. It has a Critical Care Unit, dialysis machines, state-of-the-art laboratories, etc.

As overseer of the JR Borja hospital starting July 2023, Dr. Ferdinand Miranda was in for a surprise.  The CCU and dialysis machines have issues. The fire control systems in some areas of the hospital were a scam.

Dr. Miranda recalled that while one can see fire sensors and sprinklers, many do not have water supply lines leading to these automatic water suppressors. Emergency warning buttons are visible in strategic areas, but some of these early warning devices were just pasted on the walls, with no wirings that would trigger alarms in times of emergency. The tubing and piping of the CCU and dialyze apparatuses were substandard. It took time to repair and rectify these to satisfy the requirements of the Health Department for the hospital to be promoted to level II.

As to the Tablon hospital, how did they imagine bringing patients to the hospital? Catapulting them from the nearest road?

Now on classrooms: The school buildings and classrooms — 33 school buildings, with 739 classrooms were incomplete when turned over to the Dept. of Education. These were built without building permits and cannot be issued Occupancy permits. Many of these projects do not have a blackboard, other classroom fixtures, no power, and no water.

Take the case of the Cugman National High School: a 4-story building, with 42 classrooms located in a secluded area in the barangay with narrow access. When turned over, it did not have a power connection, water system, chairs, blackboards, or land title in the name of DepEd. The current administration has allocated about P30 million more to make the school building usable. The 44-classroom, four-story school building in Barangay Puerto has a similar condition.

The list of problematic, even scandalous projects could go on ad nauseam.

If indeed, the former mayor was sincere to his loyal political ally, he should have turned over projects that were ready for use.

Since that is not the case, he may have set up Mayor Klarex in an ambush. If true, that is traitorous. But Mayor Klarex cannot be left holding the bag. The axe should fall where it belongs.

Before I end, I have to disclose that I was part of the communications machinery of the former administration of City Hall. As an end user of information, I have no detailed information on how things were done, I was just given figures. No excuses from me though. You can include me in the blame game.

I hope that this sharing will be a fair warning to whoever is the former’s present or next political ally.