INDEPENDENT CITY COUNCIL: Team Sulong Gugma Vows to Robustly Exercise Constitutional Duty of Checks and Balances Against Anti-People Policies

Amid plans to open the operation of the Iloilo City Hospital to unsolicited proposals under a public-private partnership (PPP) scheme, Team Sulong Gugma candidates vowed to exercise their constitutional duty of checks and balances to ensure all legislative measures and policies address the miseries of the Ilonggos.

“All of these flawed initiatives share a common root: the failure of the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Iloilo City to fulfill its constitutional role of legislative oversight. Instead of acting as a check on the executive, the current majority members of the City Council, who are allies of the local chief executive, have largely functioned as a rubber-stamp body, blindly approving the mayor’s proposals without scrutiny, debate or meaningful opposition. Their inaction and complacency have allowed questionable privatization schemes to proceed unchallenged, to the detriment of public interest,” Team Sulong Gugma said.

“Privatization, when responsibly executed with transparency and strong regulatory frameworks, can be a tool for progress. But without accountability and critical legislative oversight, it becomes a mechanism for exploitation and exclusion. The government must never abdicate its role as the guardian of public welfare. It must act not as a broker for private profit, but as a champion of equity, fairness and inclusive development. Iloilo City deserves leadership that prioritizes its people, not just its deals,” Team Sulong Gugma added.

Ilonggos should brace for harder times if they continue to allow the Treñas administration to hand over essential public services to private corporations under the guise of PPPs, Team Sulong Gugma candidates warned.

The hospital, still under delayed construction, is being funded by a PHP500-million bank loan. The move raised alarm among those who believe healthcare should remain fully public for it to be affordable and accessible to all, as health is a basic right that must be primarily handled by the government.

“At the rate our public utilities and services are being passed on to private companies, ordinary people can only expect to suffer more,” said leading vice mayoral candidate Love-Love Baronda in an interview with the Daily Guardian. “The city government should be in the business of delivering public service at no or least cost,” she said.

According to Atty. R. Leone “Boots” Gerochi, many of the city’s core services have already been privatized: water, public markets, waste disposal and housing. Now, the Iloilo City Hospital is being eyed for privatization.

“The Iloilo City Hospital is also in the process of being privatized. Before, they even tried to privatize the city slaughterhouse. What’s next – the Iloilo City Community College? Our public cemeteries?” he said.

Water services were turned over to Metro Pacific Iloilo Water in 2019. Aboitiz InfraCapital is entering with an PHP8.45-billion bulk water supply project. The Calajunan Sanitary Landfill is being replaced by a PHP2.3-billion integrated solid waste management facility with METPower Venture Partners.

Meanwhile, the Uswag Condominium Complex, worth PHP2.539 billion, has been awarded to EON Realty and Development Corp., with 24- to 27-square-meter units priced from PHP1.53 million to PHP1.71 million—far out of reach for the homeless poor.

Dr. Von Deveza, a practicing psychiatrist, pointed out that even now, patients at WVMC and WVSUMC struggle to pay for services that are supposed to be free or subsidized. “How much more if a private company runs the city hospital?” she said.

Banker-turned-councilor candidate Peter Oñate II also weighed in. “The mayor says the city can’t afford a PET scan machine because it costs hundreds of millions. But do we think the private company will offer it for free? LGU-run hospitals in Makati, Manila and Mandaluyong improved gradually or phase-by-phase through public investment. That’s how it should be done.”

Atty. Gerochi underscored the principle behind public hospitals: “These should be run to serve, not to profit. What’s the point of building an LGU hospital if it would operate and certainly charge fees like a private hospital? It defeats the purpose.”

“Is privatization the only answer? No. The answer is hiding in plain sight—strengthening our public health care system. Promised cost savings from privatization seldom materialize. Worse, most private companies increase profits by cutting jobs and lowering wages. So why not strengthen the city’s capacity to provide public service instead of passing this obligation to private companies?” Atty. Kesha Pesina Tupas said.

Stanley “Big Bro” Flores raised similar concerns about the privatization of the Central and Super public markets. “There’s a two-year moratorium on market rental rate hikes, but what happens after that? Rates could shoot up just like our real property taxes—it increased by 300%! The private partner is a conglomerate. It’s not a charity.”

Team Sulong Gugma councilor candidate GM Ariete Ramos added that even the design of the privatized markets is impractical. “The kiosks are so small—where will vendors store their stocks? And how can they compete with the private supermarket to be built upstairs? We should’ve improved our markets gradually using the city’s own development funds.”

Another councilor bet, Bryant Zulueta, a former executive assistant for environment and agriculture, said, “Every household will surely be struggling for basic necessities. Rental fees would go up later if not sooner, and it will increase the prices of produce and goods. It is a growing concern especially to fathers like me, and mothers, who are working to make ends meet every single day.”

Jose “Mor” Espinosa IV commented on the broader implications. “The mayor, as chair of the RDC infrastructure committee, is pushing for the airport’s privatization. Sure, that may be justifiable, but only if fees stay affordable. For other services, we believe the city has the capacity—with help from the national government—to finance improvements without relying on private firms.”

Jun Capulot offered a sharp critique: “This administration’s habit of turning public services into private business isn’t just bad policy—it’s an unspoken admission of leadership failure. Instead of managing city services effectively, the mayor passes the burden to corporations. And if his daughter wins, things may only get worse. Imagine, we have turned our public roads into paid parking areas!”

Councilor candidate Sheen Marie Mabilog pointed to the broader economic picture. “We had the second-highest inflation rate among highly urbanized cities in March—3.9%. That might not sound like much to corporate types, but to someone living hand to mouth, it’s devastating.”

“Add to that all the new fees—parking, garbage, sari-sari store permits and more—and Iloilo becomes harder to live in every day. We need to course-correct toward governance that centers on the people,” she said.

Rep. Julienne “Jam-Jam” Baronda delivered a strong remark: “Instead of giving services freely or at the lowest cost, the city government is outsourcing everything to profit-oriented firms. The result? We pay more and more—from scandalously high RPT to increased land levy and ad valorem taxes.”

“Our city should be helping us recover from the pandemic, not worsening our hardships. This isn’t governance—it’s privatization masquerading as development. Iloilo City is being run like a family corporation,” Baronda said.

Team Sulong Gugma is led by reelectionist Rep. Julienne “Jam-Jam” Baronda, with former Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog as campaign manager, Love-Love Baronda for vice mayor, and DP-FORCE-GMZ for councilors: Deveza, Pesina, Flores, Oñate, Capulot, Espinosa, Gerochi, Mabilog and Zulueta. (ADV)