Rolando “Klarex” A. Uy

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.