KEY ISSUES IN

CAGAYAN DE ORO
CITY

LEE RIANE R. SUAREZ

REED 4 – TTH – 3:00PM – 4:30PM
SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL
1. Just and Living Wages
 "The region's economy is robust and steady. And we remain optimistic that the region
has ample room to grow. We hope to have the continued support of government agencies,
the PSA, the private sector and other stakeholders this growth is what we aspire for all
Filipinos: to have a strong, comfortable, and assured life for all," – Mylah Careño,
NEDA 10 Regional Director

Cagayan de Oro City, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)

Region 10, increased its economy by 7% in 2018. Janeth Aves, officer-in-charge of PSA-
10 has also supported this by saying that the acceleration was mostly driven by the
industry and services sector of the city. CDO’s employment rate has always been
consistent and is on top in Mindanao, and also one of the highest in the country.
However, the number of job-seeking migrants has also increased through the years.

The city’s current mayor, Oscar Moreno, has done many initiatives since 2013 to
address this issue, which includes: 1) the creation of the Jobs Assistance Bureau; 2)
Improving PESO; 3) the development of the Technical and Educational Skills
Development and Employment Council (TESDEC); 4) Join Projects with DOLE and
Jobstart; and 4) the establishment of CDO’s Technical and Vocational Institute.

The Agriculture, forestry, and fishing (AFF) sector only contributed 0.1% in the
region’s annual growth (2018), which was a little disappointing but it pushed the city
even more to make the sector more competitive and high-paying in order to encourage
the young to pursue farming as a career, since aging farmers and the lack of successors
also contributes to the problem. Achieving the objective of significantly reducing income
poverty among farmers would contribute a lot in the region 10’s economy, and most
importantly, improve the lives and living conditions of the people living in the city.
2. Environment
 When I was young, passing through the old Zayas dumpsite was once part of my
daily routine, since it was a couple of miles away from my school. There were times that
we would smell something foul, and we would immediately know that a dumptruck was
near or that something was happening in the dumpsite. In 2016, the city was ordered by
the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Department of
Interior and Local Government (DILG) to close the dumpsite, which led to the opening of
the 45-hectare landfill in Barangay Pagalungan. Recently, Mayor Moreno shared to
DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu that the Department of Public Works and Highways
(DPWH) plans to build roads to connect the landfill to the western part of Misamis
Oriental and Bukidnon, and once completed, dumptrucks would not need to pass through
the roads within the city. Currently, the old landfill is now being transformed into an
ecopark and the former dumpsite scavengers now have their own cooperative that
produces ecobricks out of grounded plastic and cement.

The city is also expecting to have lesser volume of garbage since it recently
implemented a ban on single-use plastics (except when used for fish and meat products)
starting January 15 2020.

3. Community of Creation

Cagayan de Oro City is considered

the “Gateway to Northern Mindanao” and it
is all because of its good transportation and
communications infrastructure. The city is
remarkably one of the fastest growing cities
all over the nation and is undoubtedly one of
the most livable and peaceful places such that
it has become one of the go to entertainment
and shopping destination in Region 10.
It has been known to us, Kagay-
anons, that the Cagayan River is the secret to its fast growth. The presence of the deep
water harbor for instance, gives access to regional and foreign markets and is known to
be a safe location outside the Pacific typhoon belt.
Other than its natural attributes, CDO is also full of young, skilled and highly
literate people. The hospitable, warm, and friendly people of Cagayan de Oro made the
city to also be known as the “City of Golden Friendship”

4. The Throwaway Culture and the Technocratic Paradigm

 In my old school, we were taught that every person should be “men and women
for others”, and it was one of the values that St. Ignatius of Loyola has envisioned the
Jesuit Community to embody. The value tells us that we should be aware of our actions
and how it affects others. During my Junior High School years, our school had a strict
policy of not bringing canteen food inside the main building, and it disciplined us a lot
since we were only allowed to eat outside the main building in which trash bins are
readily available and that the cleaning staff wouldn’t be burdened of picking trash
everywhere since it is already compiled inside the bin and our classrooms would maintain
its cleanliness throughout the day. Another instance is that, whenever we go to the
canteen and take our lunch, we would always segregate what is left in our food and place
it on the compostable and afterwards place the plate on the proper area. With this, the
students contributed in making the campus clean and helped the cleaning staff in the
ways that they could. Since. Recently, the school imposed the “No Single-Use Plastic
Policy” around the campus and which helped lessen the amount of waste the school
produces.

POLITICS, INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, AND GOVERNANCE

1. Church and Politics

The Christ of the Divine Mercy located in Macajalar Bay in El Salvador is a 50-foot
statue, wherein the faithful process into his body that radiates from his body. At his base,
is a healing chapel, and in his chest, he holds a “chamber of adoration” According to the
Divine Mercy Hills website:
“For years, the intercessory prayer group of the Divine Mercy Foundation Mindanao
(Phils) Inc. in Cagayan de Oro received a message from the Lord: to build His church of
Mercy with the vision of the Lord, standing on top of a hill overlooking the ocean.”

Last 2018, former Misamis Oriental Governor and current mayor, Oscar Moreno,
and others, were ordered a charge with one count of violation Section 3(e) of the Anti-
Graft and Corruption Practices Act (RA No. 3019). This was evidenced with records
from October 2 2009 to October 2 2010 that shows that Mayor Moreno approved
contracts without undergoing the public bidding of the rental of one unit of exactor from
Equiprent Corporation which amounted to P2,963,520. Upon audit, the Commission on
Audit (COA) issued a Notice of Suspension No. 2014-006-101. The persons liable for
“the deficiencies in the required transaction processes and the lack of the necessary
supporting documents”.

2. Just War and Just Peace

In a Facebook post by Kaloy Manlupig, chairman of Balay Mindanaw
Foundation, the police barged into the Balay Mindanaw Peace Center without a
search warrant and searched the area, and the belongings of their guests. The
peace center, aside from its NGO personnel, had young guests from Marawi who
had just completed a two-day training on trauma healing and forgiveness.
 "(This is a) taste of Martial Law, uniformed armed SWAT policemen with K9
barged into the Balay Mindanaw Peace Center without asking permission,
without even saying anything. They hurriedly left, again without saying a word,"
Manlupig said.

On the other hand, the newly formed Cagayan de Oro Task Force to End the
Local Communist Armed Conflict (ELCAC) was formally launched last February
7, 2020 in Brgy. Tignapoloan, and was witnessed by military and police officials,
representatives of national and local government agencies, which was led by
Communications Secretary, Martin Andanar.

"I am grateful for the valuable support of NGAs, security sectors, the private
sector, and peace and development partners. Such unity of purpose gives us a
sense of hope that we can finally do things right... Let us continue to work
together for our expected results and fulfill our shared agenda of inclusive and
sustainable peace and development in northern Mindanao," he further said.

3. Capital Punishment
The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) national president Domingo Cayosa
mentioned last September 24, 2019, that restoring death penalty would be a better
option to combat crimes. The House committee on justice, on the same day, held
its first hearing on 11 bills that sought to reinstate death penalty in the Philippines.
He said that IBP has yet to give an official stand of the bills, since most of their
members support the reformative justice system. He also mentioned that the
estimated (at that time) 6,000 drug suspects killed in drug operations had failed to
stop illegal drug activities in the country.

Cagayan de Oro City 2nd District Representative and IBP member, Rufus
Rodriguez believes in the restorative and rehabilitative aspect of the penal system
and not a punitive legal system.
”By being reformative, you cannot reform a person already dead,” he added.
SOURCES

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1168787/death-not-foolproof-deterrent-to-crimes-swift-justice-
better-option-ibp-exec#ixzz6GQdADja9

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/christ-of-the-divine-mercy

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1803148

http://www.ombudsman.gov.ph/cdo-mayor-4-others-face-new-graft-charge/

https://www.xu.edu.ph/xavier-news/158-xu-ateneo-news-sy-2019-2020/4131-xavier-ateneo-
to-prohibit-entry-of-single-use-plastic

https://dumagueteinfo.com/other-destinations/mindanao/cagayan-de-oro-the-city-of-golden-
friendship/

https://www.rappler.com/nation/250654-cagayan-de-oro-city-offers-sanitary-landfill-use-
other-towns
https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1803148