CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – Cagayan de Oro Mayor Rolando “Klarex” Uy assumed office as the city’s new leader with his predecessor and long-time political ally Oscar Moreno giving him a warm welcome at city hall on Thursday, June 30.

The city hall turnover took place at the same time when President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. took his oath of office at the National Museum, and assumed the presidential post by midday.

Uy and Moreno tightly hugged each other at least twice after the outgoing mayor handed to his successor a symbolic seal of Cagayan de Oro.

Uy, who would turn 68 in July, said he would build on the gains of Cagayan de Oro during his successor’s nine-year administration, but he added that Moreno was a tough act to follow.

He called on members of the city council to help him, saying he would not be able to accomplish much without legislative support.

The new mayor was greeted with cheers by local officials and employees as he stepped inside city hall’s Executive Building.

But there was not much fanfare unlike Sunday, June 26, when Uy took his oath of office at the historic Cagayan de Oro Amphitheater. The Thursday turnover of power from Moreno to Uy at the mayor’s office was simple and informal; the two politicians just wore their everyday clothes, including denim pants, and were joined by a handful of city hall officials and several city councilors.

Uy, who was previously a Cagayan de Oro congressman, subsequently accompanied the teary-eyed Moreno as the former mayor walked out of the corridors of power in Cagayan de Oro, and the two political allies hugged again before the former mayor rode his waiting car.

The 71-year-old Moreno ended his third and final term of office with a long list of school buildings, hospitals, and kilometers of roads built, and he led Cagayan de Oro during the first crucial two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moreno’s political career spanned 24 years, starting as a representative of the 1st District of Misamis Oriental in 1998. He became governor in 2004 and served as the province’s leader for nine years before his election as Cagayan de Oro mayor. 

Moreno ran for Misamis Oriental again in the May elections but lost the gubernatorial race to former congressman and Gingoog vice mayor Peter Unabia. 

The former mayor, a lawyer by profession, has accepted a teaching job at the College of Law of the Jesuit-owned Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan. – Rappler.com