Bacolod VM slams persona non grata declaration
Published Jun 23, 2023 02:50 pm
BACOLOD CITY – “Respect begets respect.”
This was the reaction of Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran here after he was declared persona non-grata by Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas through an executive order issued on Friday, June 23, over the “uncoordinated transfer” of Badjaos from Bacolod to Iloilo City.
“Tani nag investigate ka anay antes ka nag pulok pulok” (I hope you investigated first before making a statement blaming me for what happened),” said Familiaran, who is currently the acting mayor here.
The word war between the two local officials came after some 80 Badjaos arrived at Dumangas port in Iloilo province on Friday after they were rounded up by the Department of Social Services and Development (DSSD) here on June 21.
They were supposed to be sent home to Jolo, Sulu, through a roll-on-roll-off (Ro-Ro) vessel at the Bacolod Real Estate Development Corp. (Bredco) port here, passing through Iloilo.
But Treñas expressed his dismay over the lack of proper coordination on the part of Familiaran regarding this matter.
FAMILIARAN (FB)
In response, Familiaran noted that the destination of the vessel is not direct to Iloilo City. Thus, he stressed that they are not dumping the Badjaos to this city. “They (Badjaos) promised that they will go home so it’s not our intention that those individuals will proceed to Iloilo City,” Familiaran said. Familiaran said that this is the city government’s effort to address this problem since Badjaos were using their children for begging on the street and inside passenger jeepneys. “It’s very dangerous for their safety,” he stressed. He apologized to Treñas because of the action of the Badjaos. Meanwhile, Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez issued "sincere apologies" to the city government of Iloilo and Treñas for the blunder. "Due to the large number of families that were handled by the task force, it failed to properly coordinate with the province of Iloilo regarding the arrival of these families from Bacolod," Benitez said in a statement. Benitez assured the Iloilo City mayor that Bacolod will not make the same mistake again in the future. “We value the harmonious relationship between the cities of Bacolod and Iloilo,” he said.
This was the reaction of Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran here after he was declared persona non-grata by Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas through an executive order issued on Friday, June 23, over the “uncoordinated transfer” of Badjaos from Bacolod to Iloilo City.
“Tani nag investigate ka anay antes ka nag pulok pulok” (I hope you investigated first before making a statement blaming me for what happened),” said Familiaran, who is currently the acting mayor here.
The word war between the two local officials came after some 80 Badjaos arrived at Dumangas port in Iloilo province on Friday after they were rounded up by the Department of Social Services and Development (DSSD) here on June 21.
They were supposed to be sent home to Jolo, Sulu, through a roll-on-roll-off (Ro-Ro) vessel at the Bacolod Real Estate Development Corp. (Bredco) port here, passing through Iloilo.
But Treñas expressed his dismay over the lack of proper coordination on the part of Familiaran regarding this matter.
FAMILIARAN (FB)
In response, Familiaran noted that the destination of the vessel is not direct to Iloilo City. Thus, he stressed that they are not dumping the Badjaos to this city. “They (Badjaos) promised that they will go home so it’s not our intention that those individuals will proceed to Iloilo City,” Familiaran said. Familiaran said that this is the city government’s effort to address this problem since Badjaos were using their children for begging on the street and inside passenger jeepneys. “It’s very dangerous for their safety,” he stressed. He apologized to Treñas because of the action of the Badjaos. Meanwhile, Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez issued "sincere apologies" to the city government of Iloilo and Treñas for the blunder. "Due to the large number of families that were handled by the task force, it failed to properly coordinate with the province of Iloilo regarding the arrival of these families from Bacolod," Benitez said in a statement. Benitez assured the Iloilo City mayor that Bacolod will not make the same mistake again in the future. “We value the harmonious relationship between the cities of Bacolod and Iloilo,” he said.