Mayor sues sunflower pickers

By: Emme Rose Santiagudo

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas on Monday personally filed cases against three persons who were caught picking sunflowers planted along the access road of the Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. Avenue in Mandurriao district.

Treñas was accompanied by Ninda Atinado, head of the city government’s beautification program, when he charged the three for malicious mischief.

According to the mayor, he is serious in disciplining persons who continue to trample on the beautification program of the city government as he personally spent his own money to buy the seeds for the flowers planted in the major thoroughfares in the metro.

“The beautification project is very special to me because it is one of the reasons why I ran for mayor. I bought some of the seeds using my own money from my salary because of the lack of budget. I would like to emphasize that I am serious about this discipline we are imposing,” he said in his Facebook post on Monday.

He appealed to the public to appreciate the work of the members of the beautification program of the city government who endured heat and rain to plant the flowers in the metro.

“The beautification team members do their best to grow these plants even amid the unpredictable weather. They are all hard-working and commendable so let’s give their work some appreciation. Ginapangabudlayan gid naton agud mapatahum ang aton syudad. Ini mangin halimbawa man sa tanan nga kun mahimu, hindi kita mismo ang manginupang sa pagpatahum sang aton syudad,” he furthered.

The suspects are RJ Villegas, 28, and Alexis Nejena, 24, both of Barangay Bolilao, Mandurriao district; and Daniel Soropia, 18, of Barangay Divinagracia, La Paz district.

They were caught by Green Guards deployed by the city government to Diversion Road area.

Recently, the city government tapped 30 green guards to oversee and protect public areas from vandals.

The green guards have undergone a 5-day training from the police and were deputized to issue citation tickets on violators.