CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Councilor James Judith II was axed from his post as city council minority floor leader through a resolution on Monday, January 22.
COUNCILORS James Judith II and Malvern Esparcia attend a committee hearing led by the committee on public utilities, energy, and transportation. (Councilor James Judith Facebook page)
“We already lost trust and confidence,” a legislator from the minority group of the city council said, voicing their sentiments toward the leadership of Judith.
Citing last year’s events, Assistant Minority Floor Leader Councilor Jose Pepe Abbu Jr. told the city council that Judith seemed to no longer represent the interests of the minority to fiscalize critical and serious issues.
“We’re now constrained to replace our minority floor leader,” Abbu said in his privilege motion.
Neophyte councilor, Christian Rustico Achas, who served his barangay for 16 years, was elected as the new minority floor leader under approved Resolution No. 2024-596 and assured to maintain transparency in all government transactions.
NEW Minority Floor Leader Councilor Christian Rustico Achas answers questions from the media after the city council session on January 22. (Franck Dick Rosete)
The issue faced by Judith, together with Councilor Malvern Esparcia, last week gave the signal to the minority group to implement changes.
On January 15, Vice Mayor Jocelyn Rodriguez confirmed that Judith and Esparcia were expelled from their party, the Centrist Democratic Party of the Philippines (CDP), for being an alleged traitor due to personal interest after they asked Mayor Rolando Uy to join the party and the majority without asking permission from her.
The city chief executive told the two councilors to ask for permission. They asked consent from Regine Rodriguez, the daughter and chief of staff of Rep. Rufus Rodriguez here, who heads the CDP, but they were also told to ask for permission from the vice mayor.
Judith admitted his fault after disclosing their move in a radio interview prior to discussing the matter with the second-highest official here.
He explained his move, saying he was just being a pragmatic politician, and that the passage of his legislative measures would be faster if he is aligned with the majority. “I need the majority for my 100-point legislative agenda,” he said.
If given a chance to be part of a bigger alliance, Judith said that he and Esparcia could be the “minority within the majority.”
But Vice Mayor Rodriguez said that their good relationship with the mayor would be affected once he accepts the two legislators. She was told by Uy that he could not sacrifice her.
Councilor Roger Abaday raised during the regular session on Monday that Judith and Esparcia’s issue might not be a valid reason for ejecting Judith from the position. But Abbu said that losing trust and confidence is a valid reason.
Members of the minority group were not satisfied with Judith’s performance anymore after they were not asked, particularly about proposed measures that were being discussed.
Only Judith and Esparcia from the minority did not abstain from approving the controversial proposed ordinance last October that allows the mayor to negotiate a loan to fund the Cagayan de Oro Government Center and Economic Enterprises and Tourism Site, as well as the city’s revised Annual Investment Program (AIP) 2024 that has over P2 billion as the proposed amount to be loaned for the project.
They did not also abstain from approving the P11.2-billion proposed budget for this year, which was approved on the committee level within more or less three to four hours.
READ: https://mb.com.ph/2023/11/26/cagayan-de-oro-city-dad-seeks-scheduled-budget-deliberations
Judith said that he supported these measures as these will benefit the people here.