Born on July 5, 1954, Rolando “Klarex” A. Uy, is a Kagay-anon politician, leader and incumbent congressman for the city’s 1st Congressional District. He finished his university studies, majoring in Business and Finance, from the University of San Jose Recoletos (USJR) in Cebu City in 1975.

He is a businessman by heart, from which he honed the skill and ability to listen to the people and deliver appropriate solutions for their needs.

Klarex’s foray into politics began when he became one of Carmen’s Zone Leader. In 1994 he ran and won as a Barangay Kagawad of Carmen, the city’s biggest barangay in terms of population. In 1997, he was elected Carmen’s Barangay Chairman and served in that capacity for two terms. In 2007, he ran and won the city’s First Congressional District seat as an independent. In 2010 he ran but lost the mayoralty by a measly 2,000 votes. In the same year, he again ran and won as Chairman of Barangay Carmen. In 2013, he reclaimed his seat in Congress, while his wife Lorna Uy won as Chairman of Carmen.

As Barangay Chairman and with Health as his No. 1 agenda, Barangay Carmen made history by becoming the first barangay in the entire Philippines to implement the PhilHealth by adopting the National Health Insurance Program (NHIP) through an ordinance which specified the allocation of funds for the enrollment and coverage of barangay officials and personnel using its own barangay funds.

It was also during his leadership as Chairman that Barangay Carmen was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Gawad Kalasag in 2008 after being cited as the Best Urban Barangay in Disaster Management in the entire Philippines for three years in a row. Gawad Kalasag (Kalamidad at Sakuna Labanan, Sariling Galing ang Kaligtasan), was institutionalized in 2002 as the primary mechanism by which the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) promotes total disaster risk management and advances awareness of the best practices of DRRM and humanitarian response and action among local disaster coordinating councils. In fact, the Barangay Carmen Rescue Team (CAREST) is the go-to DRRM team that the city’s DRRM Department calls for assistance in times of disaster management.

Representing the First Congressional District of Cagayan de Oro, Rolando “Klarex” A. Uy is the only politician in the city who won and served an unprecedented four terms. During his first term, he became the Vice Chairman of the Committee on Health. He was also an active member of the following Committees: Appropriations, Cooperatives and Development, Ecology, Energy, Games and Amusements, Higher and Technical Education, Mindanao Affairs, Reforestation, Human Rights, and Science and Technology.

It was during his first term that he successfully authored and pushed the passage of House Bill 3625, which later became RA 9690 or An Act Reconstituting the District Engineering Office in Cagayan de Oro, Misamis Oriental into Two Engineering Districts. It was also during his first term that August 28 of every year was declared as “Cagayan de Oro City Day” through House Bill 5288 which later became RA 9644.

As a neophyte Congressman and as Vice Chairman of the Committee on Health, Klarex successfully co-authored the House Bill that later became RA 9502 or the Cheaper Medicines Act of 2007, which made important medicines more affordable to the public, especially to the marginalized sector of society.

Klarex is also among a significant number of congressmen who co-authored RA 11534 or the Amendatory Act of the Internal Revenue Code of 1997, which was signed into law on March 26, 2021. He also co-authored RA 11466 or the law that increases the basic salary of public school teachers and other government employees and augmenting the personnel economic relief allowance (PERA).

Klarex also has numerous pro-people bills authored, co-authored, sponsored and co-sponsored that are still pending in Congress. Notable of these are those that seek the establishment of the national high schools of barangays Tuburan, Besigan, Dansolihon, Tumpagon, Bayanga, and Pagatpat. There is also the bill that already hurdled the Lower House and are now with the Senate, among which are: the Act Creating the Department of Disaster Resilience; the Act Creating the Department of Filipinos Overseas and Foreign Employment; and the Act Establishing a Covid-19 Unemployment Reduction Economic Stimulus (CURES) Fund.

Klarex’s leadership is marked with public service.

“Kanunay Ga Alagad sa Katawhan” and “Kanunay Matinud-anon” are not just mottos or mantras to him and to his countless supporters and followers; IT IS A WAY OF LIFE.

“Mag-unsa ang imong pagka maalagaron kung dili ka matinud-anon? Mag unsa ang imong pagka matinud-anon kung dili ka maalagaron?” is a question that Klarex often asked himself and his supporters to keep their feet firmly on the ground.

The kind of man that Rolando “Klarex” A. Uy is, and the brand of service that he brings to Kagay-anons, has been marked on him since his birth; IT IS IN HIS NAME!

It is no wonder then that he favors no one when he gives, because for him, a Kagay-anon who comes to him for help must be helped, whether he is from the first or second district. When he does this, he is just being true to his name Rolando, which means “territory” and “famous”.

This is what endears him to Kagay-anons and made him famous.

And his brand of service? The answer is in the name by which he is known by many.

KLAREX — a term that shows who he is and the kind of public service he espouses and does: transparent and accountable, crystal clear and distinct.

Ipinanganak noong July 5, 1954, si Rolando “Klarex” A. Uy ay isang Kagay-anon na politiko, lider, at nanunungkulang congressman ng 1st Congressional District ng lungsod. Natapos niya ang kanyang pag-aaral sa unibersidad, na may major sa Business and Finance, sa University of San Jose Recoletos (USJR) sa Cebu City noong 1975.

Siya ay negosyante sa puso, kung saan nahasa ang kanyang kakayahang makinig sa mga tao at magbigay ng angkop na solusyon para sa kanilang mga pangangailangan.

Nagsimula ang pagpasok ni Klarex sa politika nang maging isa siya sa Zone Leader ng Carmen. Noong 1994 tumakbo siya at nanalo bilang Barangay Kagawad ng Carmen, ang pinakamalaking barangay sa lungsod pagdating sa populasyon. Noong 1997, nahalal siya bilang Barangay Chairman ng Carmen at nanungkulan sa loob ng dalawang termino. Noong 2007, tumakbo siya at nanalo sa First Congressional District ng lungsod bilang independent. Noong 2010 tumakbo siya ngunit natalo sa pagka-mayor sa liit na 2,000 boto. Sa parehong taon, muli siyang tumakbo at nanalo bilang Chairman ng Barangay Carmen. Noong 2013, nabawi niya ang kanyang puwesto sa Kongreso, habang ang kanyang asawang si Lorna Uy ay nanalo bilang Chairman ng Carmen.

Bilang Barangay Chairman at sa Health bilang No. 1 na adyenda, gumawa ng kasaysayan ang Barangay Carmen nang maging kauna-unahang barangay sa buong Pilipinas na nagpatupad ng PhilHealth sa pamamagitan ng pagtanggap sa National Health Insurance Program (NHIP) sa bisa ng isang ordinansa na naglalaan ng pondo para sa pagpaparehistro at saklaw ng mga opisyal at kawani ng barangay gamit ang sarili nitong pondo ng barangay.

Sa panahon din ng kanyang pamumuno bilang Chairman, napasama ang Barangay Carmen sa Hall of Fame ng Gawad Kalasag noong 2008 matapos kilalanin bilang Best Urban Barangay in Disaster Management sa buong Pilipinas sa loob ng tatlong magkakasunod na taon. Ang Gawad Kalasag (Kalamidad at Sakuna Labanan, Sariling Galing ang Kaligtasan) ay ginawang institusyon noong 2002 bilang pangunahing mekanismo ng National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) sa pagtataguyod ng kabuuang disaster risk management at pagpapalawak ng kaalaman sa pinakamahuhusay na kasanayan sa DRRM at humanitarian response and action sa mga local disaster coordinating council. Sa katunayan, ang Barangay Carmen Rescue Team (CAREST) ang DRRM team na tinatawagan ng DRRM Department ng lungsod para humingi ng tulong sa panahon ng disaster management.

Bilang kinatawan ng First Congressional District ng Cagayan de Oro, si Rolando “Klarex” A. Uy ang tanging politiko sa lungsod na nanalo at nanungkulan sa loob ng hindi pa nagagawang apat na termino. Sa kanyang unang termino, naging Vice Chairman siya ng Committee on Health. Aktibo rin siyang miyembro ng mga sumusunod na Committee: Appropriations, Cooperatives and Development, Ecology, Energy, Games and Amusements, Higher and Technical Education, Mindanao Affairs, Reforestation, Human Rights, at Science and Technology.

Sa kanyang unang termino matagumpay niyang inakda at isinulong ang pagpasa ng House Bill 3625, na naging RA 9690 o An Act Reconstituting the District Engineering Office in Cagayan de Oro, Misamis Oriental into Two Engineering Districts. Sa kanyang unang termino rin idineklara ang August 28 ng bawat taon bilang “Cagayan de Oro City Day” sa pamamagitan ng House Bill 5288 na naging RA 9644.

Bilang baguhang Congressman at Vice Chairman ng Committee on Health, matagumpay na naging co-author si Klarex ng House Bill na naging RA 9502 o Cheaper Medicines Act of 2007, na nagpababa sa presyo ng mahahalagang gamot para sa publiko, lalo na sa mahihirap na sektor ng lipunan.

Kabilang din si Klarex sa maraming congressman na naging co-author ng RA 11534 o Amendatory Act of the Internal Revenue Code of 1997, na nilagdaan bilang batas noong March 26, 2021. Naging co-author din siya ng RA 11466 o batas na nagpapataas sa basic salary ng mga public school teacher at iba pang kawani ng gobyerno at nagdaragdag sa personnel economic relief allowance (PERA).

Marami ring makataong panukalang batas si Klarex na inakda, co-author, sponsor at co-sponsor na nakabinbin pa rin sa Kongreso. Kabilang sa mga kilalang panukala ang pagtatatag ng national high school ng mga barangay Tuburan, Besigan, Dansolihon, Tumpagon, Bayanga, at Pagatpat. Mayroon ding panukalang batas na nakalusot na sa Lower House at nasa Senado na ngayon, kabilang ang: Act Creating the Department of Disaster Resilience; Act Creating the Department of Filipinos Overseas and Foreign Employment; at Act Establishing a Covid-19 Unemployment Reduction Economic Stimulus (CURES) Fund.

Ang pamumuno ni Klarex ay kakikitaan ng paglilingkod sa publiko.

Ang “Kanunay Ga Alagad sa Katawhan” at “Kanunay Matinud-anon” ay hindi lang mga motto o mantra para sa kanya at sa kanyang napakaraming tagasuporta at tagasunod; ITO AY ISANG PARAAN NG PAMUMUHAY.

Ang “Mag-unsa ang imong pagka maalagaron kung dili ka matinud-anon? Mag unsa ang imong pagka matinud-anon kung dili ka maalagaron?” ay tanong na madalas itanong ni Klarex sa kanyang sarili at sa kanyang mga tagasuporta upang manatiling matatag na nakatapak sa lupa.

Kung anong klaseng tao si Rolando “Klarex” A. Uy, at ang uri ng serbisyo na hatid niya sa mga Kagay-anon, ay nakaukit na sa kanya mula nang siya ay isilang; NASA KANYANG PANGALAN!

Kaya hindi nakapagtataka na wala siyang pinapaboran kapag nagbibigay siya, dahil para sa kanya, ang isang Kagay-anon na lumalapit sa kanya para humingi ng tulong ay dapat tulungan, taga-una o ikalawang distrito man. Kapag ginagawa niya ito, nagiging tapat lang siya sa kanyang pangalang Rolando, na nangangahulugang “teritoryo” at “tanyag”.

Ito ang nagpalapit sa kanya sa mga Kagay-anon at nagpasikat sa kanya.

At ang kanyang uri ng serbisyo? Ang sagot ay nasa pangalan kung saan siya kilala ng marami.

KLAREX — isang katawagan na nagpapakita kung sino siya at ng uri ng paglilingkod sa publiko na kanyang itinataguyod at ginagawa: tapat at may pananagutan, malinaw at natatangi.