Rise and fall of the Morenos

With the Moreno couple out of politics, their son Igie is town mayor. But is the downfall of the Morenos coming?

Couple Augustus Caesar (“Chonse”) and Cynthia Moreno has been holding vast political power in Aloguinsan for several decades now. Starting as a small-time contractor of Atlas Mining, the Morenos acquired power based on their own merits with the backing of some influential political clans in the province. They controlled this fourth class municipality with 32,000 population like it was their family corporation.

Because of their political power, it was easy for the Morenos to win an election. When Chonse was the mayor, Cynthia was the vice mayor. When Chonse’s term expired, Cynthia replaced him and the former would become the vice mayor. In the last election, the couple fielded their son, Igie instead to run for vice mayor with Chonse as mayor. They won.

Now, the couple are experiencing political woes. Cynthia is facing arrest after her conviction for graft by the Sandiganbayan. She and the seven others who were members of the town’s bids and awards committee, were convicted by the anti-graft court for purchasing construction materials for the repair of the town hall without public bidding. The amount involved was only P1 million.

Susmaryosep, pagkagamay ra. Granting that the accused “pocketed” part of the amount, how much could have been their individual share? The amount would not have been enough to pay the public embarrassment and humiliation they and their families suffered and the jail terms they have to serve.

Their last ditch effort is to seek reversal of the anti-graft court’s decision with the Supreme Court. But pending appeal, the convicts will have to start serving their jail terms with the cancellation of their bail bond. But they have gone into hiding.

Recently, the Office of the Ombudsman served the dismissal order on Chonse and Cynthia for another graft case. It is about conflict of interest: the couple ordering bread during a town affair from a bakery whose registered owner was Cynthia, who was the mayor while Chonse was the vice mayor.

Sus, pan ray hinungdan, gidismiss sila. Cynthia, in her defense, claimed that she already sold the bakery to another person when the transaction happened but the registration was not immediately transferred to the new owner. But the anti-graft office did not believe her and ordered her and her husband’s perpetual dismissal from public service.

Never mind Cynthia because she is no longer in public office. But Chonse was forced to resign. But I am suspicious of Mayor Moreno’s resignation. I believe he just preempted the serving of the dismissal order as part of his future political plan. If he is dismissed, he can no longer run in the coming elections because of the perpetual disqualification. But by resigning and then he decides to join politics again, he can claim he just resigned. Minarunong gihapon.

With the Moreno couple out of politics, their son Igie is town mayor. But is the downfall of the Morenos coming? Your guess is as good as mine. As the saying goes, “Everything will come to an and.”

Let the Morenos’ experience be a lesson to other political clans who control their political turfs like a conjugal or family corporation.