Iloilo City Council ‘stunned’ by sudden committee overhaul

By Joseph Bernard A. Marzan

In an unexpected turn of events, the Sangguniang Panglungsod of Iloilo City witnessed an abrupt reshuffling of its committee chairpersonships on Monday, April 8, leaving some members in dismay.

The city council reached a unanimous decision to endorse the resolution proposed by Majority Floor Leader, Councilor Frances Grace Parcon-Torres.

The reorganization follows shortly after Councilor Urminico Baronda Jr. was relieved of his leadership roles across several committees, purportedly due to a “term-sharing agreement” with colleague Councilor Rudolph Jeffrey Ganzon.

During the council meeting, Baronda openly questioned the rationale behind the comprehensive vacating of positions, highlighting the effectiveness of current chairpersons.

“What is the compelling reason why we are now declaring all the committees vacant, where in fact, as I have observed, all committee [chairpersons] have been doing their jobs. In fact, in my committees, I have no backlogs,” Baronda questioned.

Parcon-Torres argued that the move was consistent with the previous arrangement between Baronda and Ganzon and that procedural rules did not necessitate a particular cause for such a sweeping change.

Despite the wholesale declaration, only four committees saw new appointments:

– Health, Sanitation, and Hospital Services (Councilor Alan Zaldivar);

– Information Technology and Computerization (Councilor Jose Maria Miguel Treñas);

– Education, Science, and Technology (Rudolph Jeffrey Ganzon); and

– Animal Welfare (Councilor Ely Estante).

The first three committees were originally headed by Baronda, while the fourth is a new committee originally under Zaldivar’s social services portfolio.

INFLUENCED?

Baronda hinted at possible outside influences at play and expressed gratitude for his tenure, alluding to “external influence” over the city council’s decision.

“If it was up to you, maybe this [resolution] would not have happened,” he said.

Speaking to media after the session, the councilor said that he was thankful to have served his committee leaderships while expressing that he had no animosity towards his colleagues, but also inferred some “external influence” in stripping him of his positions in the council.

This shakeup comes on the heels of Mayor Jerry Treñas supporting his daughter, Raisa Maria Lourdes Treñas-Chu, for the House of Representatives seat, a position currently held by Baronda’s daughter Julienne.

Baronda suggested that the council’s decision may not have been entirely independent and highlighted a supposed agreement with Ganzon that would have involved a different committee exchange.

The councilor’s other daughter, former councilor Lady Julie Grace, was also dismissed from her position as executive assistant to the mayor before the March 15 endorsement.

“I think it really was not them [in the city council]. I’m not sure who [it was], because when they were meeting, I wasn’t attending,” the councilor said.

Baronda reiterated that there was an agreement with Ganzon, but it was limited to the education committee, and it was actually under a “position swap” which would have placed him in the disaster response committee, currently being led by the latter.

He also revealed that he no longer had staff, with only 2 job-hire workers out more than 20, with others serving merely voluntarily. He is no longer invited to pre-session meetings nor speaking to the mayor after March 15.