By BENCYRUS ELLORIN Contributor MAKATI City -- It was the Centrist Democratic Party (CMD) that pushed Cagayan de Oro 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez to run for city mayor. The three-year old political party had a two-day convention at a hotel here in Sept. 11 and 12. Councilor Teodulfo Lao Jr., who won a city council seat under the Liberal Party slate of Mayor Oscar Moreno in 2013, came. Lao is the CDP’s head for the 2nd District of Cagayan de Oro. According to Lapasan barangay chairman Omar Labuntog, the decision to make Rodriguez run for mayor is part of CDP’s party building efforts. Labuntog, who is the CDP head for northern Mindanao, is among those reportedly planning on running for councilor under Rodriguez’s slate. Asked about the prospects of dividing the votes and fragmenting the group that made Mayor Oscar Moreno win in 2013 in favor of former mayor Vicente Emano, Labuntog said, “That is not our problem, we are full steam ahead.” Lawyer Florentino Dumlao III of the newly organized political think tank Advocates for Good Governance (AGG) said Rodriguez would dent the voters’ bases of both Moreno and Emano. Roi Rosales, also of AGG, said the race for the mayoral post in Cagayan de Oro would be an even fight. Many believe Moreno won over Emano, a well-entrenched local political kingpin, because Rodriguez allied with Moreno in the last stretch of 2013 polls. “Rodriguez provided the swing vote to Moreno in 2013,” Rosales said. Rosales said it would eventually be advantageous to the city as voters would be given more choices in 2016.