Rumored ‘Uswag’ lineup split between incumbents, ‘newbies’

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

The lineup of Team Uswag under Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas is divided between incumbent members of the city council, new faces in politics, a former city official and those throwing their hat in the ring for another shot.

According to a report by RMN Iloilo, the lineup includes incumbent city councilors Romel Duron, Ely Estante, Rudolf Ganzon, Jojo Javellana, Frances Grace Parcon, and Alan Zaldivar.

All incumbent councilors are re-electionists except for Parcon, who was selected by the National Unity Party (NUP) to replace her father, councilor Armand Parcon who died shortly after the 2019 elections.

The “new” names in the lineup are Dr. Urminico Baronda, Atty. Sedfrey Cabaluna, Veterans Village Punong Barangay John Eric David, Atty. Rex Marcus Sarabia, the mayor’s son Miguel Treñas, and businessman Johnny Young.

Baronda, the former City Health Officer, seeks to replace his daughter, incumbent Councilor Lady Julie Grace Baronda, who is currently serving her last term.

Cabaluna previously ran for the city council in 2016 as an independent and finished in 15th place. He is currently a Senior Desk Manager at GMA Regional TV. He was also previously with the Department of Tourism-Region 6 and ABS-CBN TV-10 Iloilo.

Sarabia also previously ran for city council in 2019 under the slate of former Mayor Jose Espinosa III (Nacionalista Party) and finished 21st.

The younger Treñas seeks to replace their family’s representation in the city council, as his cousin, incumbent Councilor Jose Efrain Treñas III is also on his last 3-year term.

Together with David and Young, Miguel Treñas has been making his presence felt by hosting weekly live sessions on social media, on top of posters spotted around the city since last year.

Notably not included in the list are the mayor’s Executive Assistants for Sports Rudiver Jungco, and for Barangay Affairs Fernando Jose Rico.

Jungco and Rico went under fire early this year after affixing their names and faces to a relief distribution program for those affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Rico resigned as head of the city’s COVID-19 Compliance Team in May this year when he posted on social media a photo of him eating at a restaurant with aides after taking their mandatory COVID swab tests, which was against the city government’s COVID-19 protocols.

Sources close to the mayor’s office told Daily Guardian that he had met with the candidates, including Jungco and Rico, on Monday and again on Tuesday to finalize their lineup.

Daily Guardian has also reached out to Mayor Treñas and Councilor Estante to confirm details of the lineup, but they have not responded as of this writing