File photo of Miss Caloocan City and former Caloocan City District II representative ‘Mitch’ Cajayon-Uy from Politiko Metro Manila.
Twice referred to as a recepient of ‘payolas’ in the flood control anomalies, former Caloocan District II representative Mary Mitzi ‘Mitch’ Cajayon-Uy has strongly denied the allegations of dismissed Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) engineers Henry Alcantara and Brice Hernandez that she received ‘kickbacks’ from the infrastructure projects in Bulacan.
Speaking before the the Senate committee hearing over substandard and ‘ghost’ flood projects, Cajayon-Uy rebuffed Hernandez’s statements that she received some P16.5 million as payoffs from flood control projects from 2022 to 2023.
The former member of the House of Representatives repudiated the claim against her, pointing out that she is a former congresswoman of Caloocan and not of Bulacan.
She added that whoever wishes to examine all the projects in Caloocan’s second district during her return to the congressional seat from 2022 to 2025 are welcome to do so as these are on public record and open for scrutiny.
However, her name was mentioned again in the Senate hearing by Hernandez’s erstwhile boss, Alcantara, as a beneficiary of flood control project commissions, along with incumbent senators Jose ‘Jinggoy Estrada’ Ejercito Jr. and Emmanuel Joel Jose Villanueva, former senator Ramon ‘Bong’ Revilla Jr. and Ako Bicol representative Elizaldy ‘Zaldy’ Co.
Doubts on Credibility
But Cajayon-Uy’s constituents expressed doubts over her denials as residents particularly in Caloocan’s Maypajo suburb question her credibility as her track record shows she had been charged of graft and malversation before the Sandiganbayan in 2021.
The residents also complained that despite her claimed excellent performance as representative of the city’ s second district, she had ignobly failed in addressing perennial flooding with several parts being submerged in floods every time heavy rains occur and excess water are released from nearby dams.
On top of this, the Casili creek, they said, has remained heavily silted and clogged with garbage for several years despite appeals to have it dredged and cleared so it would not contribute to the flooding.
It is also worthy to note that the former congresswoman while serving her term as Caloocan City representative also became vice chairperson of the powerful House Committee on Appropriations, chaired by beleaguered Ako Bicol party-list solon Elizaldy Co now accused of being the ‘mastermind’ behind the current flood control scandal.
Political career
According to her official website, Cajayon-Uy was born on May 6, 1978 and after winning as Miss Caloocan in 2000, she later began her political career as a one-term city councilor from 2004 to 2007.
She then ran a successful bid as the representative for Caloocan’s 2nd District, serving in the position for two terms from 2007 to 2013.
Four years after in July, she was appointed by former President Rodrigo ‘Rody’ Duterte as executive director of the Council for the Welfare of Children, an attached agency under the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Cajayon-Uy left the post at the council to run for her former congressional seat, holding it from 2022 to 2025.
The Duterte-backed Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Laban (PDP-Laban) party indicates that during her tenure as congresswoman, she held the vice chairperson posts for the House committees on appropriations, labor and employment and Metro Manila development.
In 2025, Cajayon-Uy lost her reelection bid to Dale Gonzalo “Along” Malapitan.
Pork Barrel Controversy
In July 2018, Cajayon-Uy was charged with graft and malversation over the alleged misuse of P10 million from her pork barrel or Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) in 2009.
The charges stemmed from P3 million and P7 million funds that were allegedly found to have been released for non-existent or ghost projects under the Comprehensive Integrated Delivery of Social Services (CIDSS) program with Kaloocan Assistance Council Inc. (KACI).
Cajayon-Uy was pointed as the person responsible for recommending KACI as the project partner.
The Ombudsman found probable cause to indict Cajayon-Uy, former Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) secretary Esperanza Cabral, other officials of the agency, and the KACI president.
She was acquitted by the Sandiganbayan Second Division in 2021 due to lack of evidence proving her guilt beyond reasonable doubt.