I just don't want to spoil Gonzalez's day: Zulueta
For all the bad things that he has done and all the dirty tactics that he employed in the last elections against Iloilo City Councilor Perla Zulueta, it's still Acting Justice secretary Raul Gonzalez, Sr.'s best interests that the lady councilor from Molo has in mind. Not wanting to ruin or spoil his day, Zulueta opted not to take part in last Friday morning's oathtaking ceremonies for the newly-elected set of city officials where Gonzalez was the administering officer.
"He had admitted campaigning against me in the last elections. In fact, he spent his personal money just to ensure that I lose. If I go there to take my oath as a reelected councilor, it would have been the greatest insult to his leadership. I don't want to spoil his day so I decided not to take part in the ceremonies," Zulueta said in response to media queries why she was not present in last Friday's oathtaking rites at the Freedom Grandstand.
Aside from Zulueta, also conspicuously absent was councilor-elect Nielex Tupas, who like her ran and won under the PDP-Laban/Genuine Opposition banner in the last elections.
"Besides, I have already taken my oath before Atty. Licerio Panes last June 4. Kon magsumpa ako liwat, basi himuon na nila ako nga majority floorleader [If I take my oath again, they might install me as the majority floorleader]," Zulueta jokingly said in an interview over dyFM Bombo Radyo over the weekend.
"Whether we take our oath before the President, the acting Justice secretary or a mere notary public doesn't make a difference at all as far as I am concerned. It is how we perform when we're already in the council that matters," she further quipped.
Zulueta also denied reports that she was intentionally left out of the ceremonies and was not sent an invitation to the affair.
"That is not true. In fairness to the organizers, they sent invitations to my office. The Sangguniang Panlungsod secretariat even called me up to ask if I would be coming but I told them I can't make it. I also talked with Mayor (Jerry) Treñas about it and he very well understands my situation. Wala gid sang problema sa iya [There's no problem with him]," she averred.
Zulueta, who earned the tag "The Iron Lady of the City Council" for her no-nonsense stand against graft and corruption in government, said everybody knows that there is "bad blood" between Gonzalez and her.
"Ever since, we've been at loggerheads with each other. He is someone that I would call a destabilizer. I resent the fact that through his lapdogs, temprano pa nila ako ginadusdos [they're already moving to put me in the sidelines this early]. I resent it because the intervention comes from someone nga wala sing labot sa [who doesn't have anything to do with the] local government," Zulueta said.