CDO mayor cancels 2026 city hall Christmas party

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY — Mayor Rolando “Klarex” Uy announced Friday that the City Government will not hold its 2026 general Christmas party as part of its preparations for the Super El Niño phenomenon.

The mayor made the announcement during a meeting with all barangay captains in the city.

On Tuesday, the Mayor convened city department managers to finalize proactive measures and strategic plans against the looming "Super El Niño."

During the meeting, Uy emphasized securing continuous water rationing across affected barangays in close coordination with the Cagayan de Oro City Water District (COWD).

The peak of Super El Niño is expected to begin this November and extend through the first quarter of 2027.

Uy assured the public that the local government unit remains fully prepared to safeguard residents and mitigate the impact of the dry season.

In 2024, the Mayor cancelled giving cars as prizes to employees during their annual Christmas party to follow President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos's order prohibiting vehicles as Christmas party prizes.

The city hall yuletide celebration still allocated 50 kilos of rice to each employee as promised, and minor prizes were given during the party.

He said the city is obligated to follow the President’s directive even though they had already prepared a budget that included sports utility vehicles (SUVs) as grand prizes and several motorcycles as consolation prizes for City Hall’s regular, casual, and job-order employees.

Aside from the SUV, at least 80 motorcycles were included in the raffle, while minor prizes—such as rice cookers, washing machines, and electric fans—were raffled off to the city's more than 6,000 casual and regular employees during the annual Christmas party.

The awarding of a car grand prize has been a tradition of Mayor Uy since he assumed office.