Treñas wants Iloilo City placed under Comelec control
Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas wants the city placed under the control of Commission on Elections (Comelec). This after his four children and some supporters were allegedly harassed by a policeman allegedly assigned as security detail of former Justice Secretary and mayoralty candidate Raul Gonzalez Sr. while distributing relief goods to fire victims inside the Nabitasan Elementary School in La Paz district the other night.
Treñas expressed disappointment with the way the police handled last Monday night’s incident at the evacuation center.
Treñas’s children Raisa, Miguel, Jerry Jr., and Paolo were distributing relief packs to the fire victims when PO1 Ronnie Refugio allegedly harassed and shoved them away from the evacuation center.
In a radio interview, Raisa said the cop whom she said was drunk wanted them to coordinate with Barangay Captain Noriel Arsolo before distributing any goods to the fire victims.
Raisa, the eldest among the Treñas siblings, said they have coordinated with the school principal before they distributed the used clothes to the fire victims. They were provided with the list of beneficiaries of their relief packs. They were accompanied by Blue Angels, a civic organization put up by the mayor’s wife Mrs. Rosalie Treñas.
Raisa narrated that a man (later identified as Refugio) whom she could only identify through his face followed them as they transferred from one classroom to the other. Raisa said the man uttered unpleasant words to them.
Raisa stressed the man who is wearing shirt and shorts has a gun tucked on his waist.
Witnesses also said that Refugio along with his friends were having a drinking spree at a makeshift inside the evacuation center when the Treñas children arrived to distribute goods.
Refugio, it was learned, was also a fire victim.
Sensing danger, the Treñas children immediately left the area then they informed their father about the incident and proceeded to the La Paz police station to report the incident.
The mayor described the Iloilo City Police Office as “ineffective” for not getting any concrete response on the incident. He said what he got from the police is they are “conducting an investigation” relative to the incident. “I am very disappointed,” he said.
The mayor also got angry after the team from La Paz police station who went to the evacuation site failed to arrest Refugio. “There are television footages that shows Refugio was still at the site when the responding cops arrived,” said Treñas.
Treñas said it is better for the Comelec to take control of Iloilo City than leaving the matter to the police and allow further incidents.
Treñas said he is afraid what happened in Maguindanao will also happen in the city. Treñas, however, did not categorically identify his political rival.
The mayor’s counsel Atty. Aloysius de la Cruz is preparing an administrative and criminal complaint against Refugio apart from requesting the PNP hierarchy and the Comelec to declare the city under the Comelec control.
The complaints against Refugio may include harassment, violation of gun ban and violation against minors. Paolo is only 14 and he is traumatized with what happened Monday night, said Treñas.
