Iloilo City mayor’s chief of staff faces injury, vexation complaint

By Joseph Bernard A. Marzan

Jonas Antonio Bellosillo, chief of staff to Iloilo City Mayor Raisa Treñas-Chu, is facing allegations of unjust vexation and slight physical injuries after a complaint was lodged with local authorities in May.

Barangay-level arbitration between Bellosillo and the complainant, Julia, began on Sunday, June 7, at Barangay Simon Ledesma in Jaro district.

Julia currently resides in Barangay Tabuc Suba, also in Jaro, but is a registered voter in Simon Ledesma, where Bellosillo previously served as barangay captain.

Sections 409(a) and 412(a) of Republic Act No. 7160, the Local Government Code of 1991, require disputes between people residing in the same barangay to be settled amicably before the Lupong Tagapamayapa, the barangay conciliation panel, before a case may be filed in court.

She told reporters on Monday, June 8, that the incident stemmed from an early-morning drinking session with her siblings and some friends at a boarding house that straddles the Jaro barangays of Simon Ledesma and Ma. Cristina.

The group had been in Simon Ledesma earlier, on May 16, to watch a children’s beauty pageant in which her mentee competed.

At around 1:30 a.m. on May 17, Simon Ledesma village chief Amadeo Sultan, along with other barangay officials, approached the boarding house and reprimanded the group, which was gathered outside, over noise complaints.

In response, the group moved their conversation upstairs and stopped drinking.

Shortly after 3:30 a.m., Bellosillo allegedly stormed the boarding house, shouting and hurling profanities as he approached, prompting the group to quiet down and hide in one of the bedrooms.

After repeated demands, the group came out, and some were allegedly struck by the city official with a wooden broom handle.

“There were two boys who were friends with our cousins who went down first. [Bellosillo] struck one of them, so the other went back upstairs, and hid in the room of a female friend who had been boarding there,” Julia said.

“He was shouting outside, saying, ‘Gululuwa kamo da mga yudipota kamo!’ (Come out, you children of b***ches!), and my friend told me to just come out even as she was worried herself. I was the first to come out, and he struck me by the hip.”

“After that, he had been striking me and [my friend]. I went into a room just to get my phone but then he struck me again on my side. We all ran and separated because of fear. Some of my friends even slipped. We kept saying sorry while we were running.”

“[Bellosillo] held on to me [by the arm] and struck me by the thigh. He attempted to strike me by the back, but a male companion who was also a Simon Ledesma resident was able to stop him. We all ran out,” she added.

Julia said she was summoned to Bellosillo’s house at around 8 a.m. on May 17, where, she added, the group was not allowed to explain itself. Instead, the city official said the confrontation had been meant only to discipline them.

Sultan then told them, “Maayo lang wala kamo gindal-an pulis kag ginpa-buy-bust! (Good thing [Bellosillo] didn’t send the police after you and [entrap] you in a buy-bust [operation]!)”

The group was also asked to “sign something” at the Simon Ledesma barangay hall, which they refused to do.

Julia’s medico-legal certificate, dated May 18 and obtained from a hospital, indicated a soft tissue injury secondary to alleged mauling.

A police blotter was also filed with Iloilo City Police Station 9 in Jaro.

Julia said she sought legal counsel and filed the complaint after consulting her family.

Of the eight people inside the boarding house when the incident occurred, four — including Julia and a sibling — were struck.

Her sibling opted not to file a complaint. Julia said their parents had told them the decision to pursue legal action was up to each of them individually.

Julia also said that during the first arbitration session on Sunday she was alone, and her cousin was barred from entering the barangay hall, even though Bellosillo was flanked by members of both the Lupong Tagapamayapa and the barangay council.

Section 414 of Republic Act No. 7160 provides that all barangay arbitration proceedings shall be open to the public, except when, motu proprio or upon a party’s request, the public is excluded in the interest of privacy, decency, or public morals.

“[Bellosillo] had been raising his voice, telling me, ‘Mayo lang wala ko nagdala barakol (Good thing I didn’t bring a cane)’,” she recalled.

Lawyer Danielle Naciongayo-Robles, Julia’s counsel, said they may pursue court action for slight physical injuries and unjust vexation under Articles 266 and 287 of the Revised Penal Code, pending the resolution of the barangay arbitration.

Both offenses are punishable by arresto menor, or imprisonment of one to 30 days. Slight physical injuries also carries a fine of up to PHP 40,000, while unjust vexation carries a fine of PHP 1,000 to PHP 40,000.

The complainant also denied that the case was political, saying she was a first-time voter in the upcoming barangay elections and did not know whether her parents or older siblings supported the opposing local camp.

Bellosillo, when reached for comment, pointed Daily Guardian to the ongoing barangay arbitration.