Oca Moreno, first Mindanaoan exec to endorse Leni, turns hardline on Leni-Kiko tandem

March 26, 2022

BALINGASAG, Misamis Oriental – Cagayan de Oro Mayor Oscar “Oca” Moreno, together with his entire One MisOr One Cagayan de Oro party, on Friday night endorsed the vice-presidential bid of Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan.

Moreno, who is running for governor of the province, was the first local executive to endorse Vice President Leni Robredo, starting a snowball of endorsements from local chief executives throughout the country.

Misamis Oriental gubernatorial candidate Cagayan de Oro Mayor Oca Moreno, together with his One Mis Or-One CDO party, raises the arm of vice-presidential candidate Kiko Pangilinan at the opening salvo of the local campaign period Friday evening. PHOTOS COURTESY OF TEAM KIKO PANGILINAN

“VP Leni endorsed Kiko. We believe Kiko is the best choice for VP. We endorse VP Leni for president and we endorse Kiko for vice president,” Moreno told the crowd at the proclamation rally of his party.

“More importantly, Kiko is very competent and qualified,” the gubernatorial candidate said.

The two politicians are old allies in the LP. Pangilinan is the LP president while Moreno was one of the party’s key leaders in Mindanao during the Aquino administration.

At the rally, with an estimated 10,000 attendees, Pangilinan raised the hand of Oca and the rest of his party-mates, a signal in Philippine politics of endorsement.

Ayi Hernandez, Moreno’s running-mate, also endorsed Pangilinan. “Our advocacies are perfectly aligned: agriculture and food security,” he said.

Pangilinan has placed agriculture front and center in the political discourse.

Misamis Oriental gubernatorial candidate Cagayan de Oro Mayor Oca Moreno, together with his One Mis Or-One CDO party, raises the arm of vice-presidential candidate Kiko Pangilinan at the opening salvo of the local campaign period Friday evening. PHOTOS COURTESY OF TEAM KIKO PANGILINAN

At the rally, he told the crowd of his Sagip Saka Act (Republic Act 11321), wherein local and national government can purchase their food needs directly from farmers and fisherfolk without public bidding.

Pangilinan said the 10 hospitals in Misamis Oriental buy food for their patients every day, but not from farmers.

“Pag nanalo kami, lahat ng ahensya ng gobyerno, gagawing patakaran na ang pera ng gobyerno ay direkta bibili sa mga magsasaka at mangingisda at direkta mapupunta sa bulsa nila,” Pangilinan said.

The vice-presidential candidate reminded Misamis Oriental voters that a lot are at stake in the May 9 elections: economic recovery from Covid, people’s livelihood, children’s education, health and life.

Pangilinan asked the crowd to check on all the candidates’ track record and vote only for those with results and performance in good governance and not involved in corruption.

“Iboto natin yung mga gwapo at maganda ang programa, gwapo at maganda ang ginagawa para sa bayan, gwapo at maganda ang record sa malinis na panunungkulan,” he said.

Pangilinan barnstormed in Northern Mindanao Friday, starting with a forum organized by another ally Nereus Acosta, who is running for congressman of the first district of Bukidnon. He later administered the oath to 157 new Liberal Party members in Cagayan de Oro.

The two politicians are old allies in the LP. Pangilinan is the LP president while Moreno was one of the party’s key leaders in Mindanao during the Aquino administration.

At the start of the week, some local executives launched the Robredo-Sara (Duterte) tandem in Cagayan de Oro.

Moreno, according to close aides, is averse to any hybrid presidential-vice-presidential tandem like Rosa (Robredo-Sara). He remains committed to Leni-Kiko tandem and would not play any role in any Rosa initiative.