Biz groups sound alarm over bombing incidents in metro
Much as the police want to solve it, business groups in Iloilo City also hoped for a speedy resolution to the recent bombing incidents.
Ma. Leah Victoria Lara, executive director of the Iloilo Business Club, said that all their efforts will go to naught if Iloilo City will be painted with a not-so-good peace and order situation.
“This has already affected peace and order and we do not want Iloilo City to be labeled as a dangerous place,” she added.
As such, Lara said that, “we hope that the law enforcers to be on top of the situation to resolve and give closure of the cases.”
She stated that big businesses like Megaworld and Ayala Corporation plan to put up business in the area and it would be a big loss if they would back out because of the recent bombing incidents.
“The big names in the corporate world will be putting money in the city. We don’t want it to be hampered by anything, especially peace and order,” she stated.
The IBC and the Iloilo Economic Development Foundation, Inc. (ILEDF) also called for national and local political candidates to respect each other in order to have a peaceful election.
Recently, ILEDF, an umbrella organization of various business associations in Iloilo, during its recent monthly meeting, passed a resolution expressing strong condemnation to the bombing incidents on Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas’s family-owned bakeshop and ancestral house.
“As business people, our main concern is that peace and order is maintained at all times in our city. We cannot afford to have Iloilo tagged as a lawless and dangerous place and jeopardize all the efforts that we have exerted in making Iloilo an investment hub for business process outsourcing (BPOs), tourism, and agriculture,” it said.
To recall, the first bombing incident involved the Carlos’s Bakeshop and Cafe, which is located just beside the house of Treñas at Brgy. Dungon, Jaro district.
The second incident hit the Treñas ancestral house at Brgy. Taal, Molo district last March 23.
