A Gift Turned Weapon

In Iloilo City, the phrase “Happy Birthday” has officially been weaponized.

Councilor Jose Maria Dela Llana’s recent greeting to Vice Mayor Lady Julie Grace Baronda – featuring a photo of her oath-taking before embattled former House Speaker Martin Romualdez – was not a gesture of camaraderie. It was a calculated act of passive-aggressive trolling that shed light on a depressing shift in our local political culture.

This incident is a textbook example of “plausible deniability.” By framing a political attack as a social nicety, Dela Llana attempts to gaslight the public. “I want to greet our Vice Mayor… Wishing you all the best,” he wrote, while simultaneously linking her to a figure currently accused of masterminding PHP 100 billion in questionable budget insertions. When called out, he retreats to innocence: I just greeted her; what is the disrespect?

Far from an isolated slip, this is already a pattern of behavior. It recalls Dela Llana’s dismissal of a rival Freedom of Information (FOI) ordinance as a “tasteless cake.” Whether using pastry metaphors or birthday cards, the Councilor seems intent on trivializing serious legislative friction into petty, meme-ready content.

However, the issue extends beyond one councilor’s decorum. We are witnessing “Governance by Facebook.” The entire exchange – from the initial post to the Vice Mayor’s “Taha sa Public Office” response and Representative Jam Baronda’s lecture on “what our parents taught us” – played out on social media feeds, not the session hall.

This performative governance is dangerous. It creates the illusion of activity while actual legislative work stalls. While the council bickers over a JPEG, the competing FOI bills remain in limbo. Public officials should use official channels for grievances; instead, they rely on public posts that invite supporters to dogpile in the comments section, turning governance into a spectator sport driven by engagement metrics rather than policy outcomes.

Yet, the response from the Baronda camp reveals its own “Glass House.” Representative Baronda’s call for compassion and “respect to humankind” attempts to take the moral high road, but it risks looking like a tactic to shut down valid political scrutiny. Voters are suffering from moral fatigue; they do not want a sermon on etiquette – they want transparency regarding the PHP 100 billion infrastructure questions linked to their party president.

Furthermore, Dela Llana’s attack reeks of hypocrisy. If a photo with Martin Romualdez acts as an indictment of character, the Councilor should check his own backyard. His political patrons – former Mayor Jerry Treñas and current Mayor Raisa Treñas-Chu – have been photographed appearing cozy with Romualdez on numerous public occasions. If Baronda is “guilty by association,” then by Dela Llana’s own logic, the Treñas administration is equally complicit.

The solution is simple, though likely unappealing to those addicted to likes and shares: Take it offline. If the Vice Mayor’s alliance with Romualdez is a liability to the city, debate it on the floor. If the Councilor is being disrespectful, sanction him through the ethics committee. The Ilonggo people deserve leaders who fight for their interests in the City Council, not keyboard warriors fighting for clout in the comments.