Mindanaotoday.com | Cagayan de Oro marks 73rd City Charter Day
By: URIEL QUILINGUING
Highly-urbanized Cagayan de Oro, the country’s 10th largest city which serves as Northern Mindanao regional capital, will turn 73 years old as a chartered city on Thursday, June 15, 2023.
On this historic day, Mayor Rolando A. Uy will report on his administration’s performance before the City Council in a special session at the Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr. International Convention Center in Indahag village, about eight kilometers from City Hall.
In the past, City Charter Day commemorative programs were held either at the amphitheatre, bandstand (now known as Freedom Kiosk), or at the Barangay Tourism Hall.
To be presided by Vice Mayor Jocelyn B. Rodriguez, the special session of the 18-member legislative body is set to start at 1:30 p.m.
City Administrator Roy Hilario P. Raagas, in a videotape shared online on Tuesday, June 13, said over a thousand attendees from government agencies, village leaders, professional organizations, business entities, and civil society organizations are expected.
Raagas said they are encouraging city residents to avail of the buses that would ferry them to the convention center from City Hall at Capistrano Street or from SM City Uptown, Masterson Road starting at 7 a.m. and back.
A thanksgiving mass is set at 10:30 a.m., while the City Charter Day Commemorative Program at 11:30 a.m. – the time the presidential signature was affixed on the City Charter document 73 years ago. Lunch would be served.
At Cogon Public Market, a huge light-emitting diode (LED) screen would be installed at where the commemorative activities at the convention center can be viewed, aside from livestreaming on city government-created Facebook accounts.
The City Mayor’s state-of-the-city report would be anchored on the current administration’s CdeO RISE development agenda: Regional leadership (metropolization, accessibility, and connectivity), Institutional development (and participatory governance), Safety (security and human development), and Economic recovery.
These were spelled out in the July 1, 2022 Mayor Uy’s inaugural speech.
Under CdeO RISE platform is the six-point agenda on addressing issues on garbage, traffic and water supply, as well as on tax incentives, people’s participation, and Covid-19 response.
In his first 100 days, October 8, last year, he said his focus has been on reaching out to the poor, providing with basic services and needs such as food, education, jobs, and economic activities.
Uy said the foundations for a roadmap to economic recovery from the pandemic was already in place and these include regulations for sidewalk vendors, people’s day at City Hall, and village-level delivery of basic services.
Earlier, the City Council members approved and adopted the 2023 P8.289-billion Annual Investment Plan: P3.5B for economic programs, P3.2B for social services, and P1.589 for general services.
Meanwhile, the Himugso (Birth) organizing team for the 73rd Charter Day and 125th Philippine Independence Day is inviting the public to take a glimpse of the past by viewing the exhibits at Centrio Ayala, Gaisano City, Limketkai Mall, Ororama Center, SM City Downtown Premier, and SM City Uptown Mall, June 11 to 17.
Museum tours are also available, June 13-15, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., from City Hall to the City Museum (Old Water Tank), Museum of Three Cultures (Capitol University), and Museo de Oro (Xavier University Main).
To bring in more participation and create public entertainment, inter-agency sports involving badminton, basketball, chess, lawn tennis, table tennis, and volleyball was launched Thursday, June 8, last week. Winners will be recognized on Wednesday, June 14.
Seventy-three years ago, on June 15, at about 11:30 a.m., then President Elpidio R. Quirino signed Republic Act No. 521, the City Charter of Cagayan de Oro, out of Cagayan de Misamis town that was created sometime in 1872.
This, after then Misamis Oriental Congressman Emmanuel N. Pelaez refiled sometime in December 1949, a bill creating the City of Cagayan de Oro which his predecessor, Congressman Pedro S. Baculio, had been lobbying for three years.
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