A politically doddering father

By Alex P. Vidal 

“Things fall apart and happen out of stupidity and carelessness.” — John Sandford

ILOILO CITY Mayor Geronimo “Jerry” Treñas has been getting a flak for supposedly “overdoing” the promotion or marketing of his daughter, Raisa Treñas-Chu or “Raisa Treñas” in the unofficial campaign sorties, being groomed to be the rival of Iloilo City lone district Rep. Julienne “Jamjam” Baronda in the 2025 congressional election.

The recent furor whipped up by the reported discovery of Mrs. Chu’s photo placed alongside her father as city mayor and Vice Mayor Jefrey Ganzon in the barangay hall of Brgy. Lopez Jaena in the Jaro district was a definitive example.

Since the controversial photo was found inside the barangay hall, Punong Barangay Albert Santiago will have a lot of explaining to do for the recklessness, idiocy and grand violation of basic protocol.

It would have been a terrible scandal if the impropriety was committed, or if Mrs. Chu’s gratuitous photo was found hanging alongside the photos of incumbent elected officials inside the city hall, or in any other government edifices for that matter.

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It was possible an animated Santiago and his enlivened allies in the barangay council wanted to ingratiate themselves with Treñas and were the ones responsible for the gaffe.

If Treñas ordered Mrs. Chu’s photo to be displayed in that barangay hall and in 179 other village halls in the city, he can be censured or blasted for his truculence and having no delicadeza.

The act was callous and abusive—if it had city hall imprimatur.

If it was purely the handiwork of “asslickers” Santigao and the barangay councilors, the city mayor still has the moral obligation to tell them what they did was wrong and improper. He has to call spade a spade.

If the blatant breach of etiquette wasn’t uncovered by a concerned individual who was able to rouse exhilarating public discussions after bringing the matter in the social media, would Treñas—granting he was aware of the solecism—tolerate or allow it?

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If the elementary slip-up wasn’t tackled in the media, would Treñas pretend he “didn’t see, hear, and smell anything” about the unwarranted presence of her daughter’s photo inside that barangay hall?

Any father who wants his daughter to be catapulted into the totem pole to become the next Queen Nefertiti like in the case of Treñas, who passionately wants Mrs. Chu to be included in the next payroll of the House of Representatives, wouldn’t mind feigning innocence if the infraction wasn’t really outrageous (but discreditable)—like the ill-advised hanging of Mrs. Chu’s photo in the Brgy. Lopez Jaena, Jaro barangay hall.

It’s hard to comprehend Treñas’ feeling as he fantasizes about seeing his daughter being coronated as the next congresswoman if one isn’t a politically doddering father.

Which should be understandable why a simple mistake could take place in a small village hall even before the biggest political spectacle leading to the 2025 congressional combat has yet to take place.

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The United States is partnering with the Philippines to explore opportunities to grow and diversify the global semiconductor ecosystem under the International Technology Security and Innovation (ITSI) Fund, created by the CHIPS Act of 2022.

In July 2024, the civil nuclear cooperation “123” agreement entered into force, enabling the United States and the Philippines to enhance our cooperation on clean energy and energy security.

In March 2024, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo led the first-of-its-kind Presidential Trade and Investment Mission to the Philippines – resulting in $1 billion in investment pledges from 22 U.S. companies.

On July 15-16, the United States hosted the Philippines in Washington for the first United States-Philippines Cyber-Digital Policy Dialogue.

The United States and the Philippines co-hosted the Indo-Pacific Business Forum on May 21, bringing together 600 government and private sector participants from 24 countries to discuss trade and investment opportunities.

The two countries have a bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, signed in 1989 and most recently convened in July 2024, and a tax treaty.

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In May 2022, the Philippines and the United States joined 12 other partners to launch the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF).

The United States and the Philippines, together with Japan, launched the Luzon Economic Corridor to support connectivity between Subic Bay, Clark, Manila, and Batangas.

Through these and other initiatives, our countries aim to strengthen our economic cooperation through the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment- IPEF Investment Accelerator.

The Philippines’ Membership in International Organizations. Owing to our shared democratic values and respect for the rule of law, the United States and the Philippines work together to preserve the integrity and independence of international fora such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, the United Nations, ASEAN Regional Forum, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and World Trade Organization.

The Philippines served as chair and host of ASEAN for 2017 and will do so again in 2026. The United States strongly supports Philippine government efforts to fully implement the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two daily newspapers in Iloilo.—Ed)