Treñas mum on Baronda’s vote on ABS-CBN franchise

If Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas would have it his way, he would have voted against the resolution junking the franchise renewal of media giant ABS-CBN Corp.

In a press conference on Monday, Treñas also refused to comment on the controversial vote of lone district Rep. Julienne ‘Jam-Jam’ Baronda against granting a fresh 25-year legislative franchise to the network.

Baronda was part of the 70 members of the Committee on Legislative Franchises of the House of Representatives who voted to deny the franchise.

“I will not pass judgement on Cong. Jam-Jam. Kon ako man siguro, I would have found it difficult also to come up with a decision,” he said.

As a former congressman for nine years, Treñas said he is aware of how difficult the “dynamics” are in Congress.

“Well, you know may mga dynamics na sa Congress sa House and mabudlay nga maghatag judgment para sa isa ka boto nga ginubra ni Congresswoman Jam-Jam. I have been a Congressman for nine years. I know there are many dynamics and kabudlay gid kaayo kon ara ka dira,” he furthered. 

When asked if how he would vote if he was still in Congress, the mayor said he would choose to grant the franchise of the embattled media network recognizing the critical role of the media in democracy.

“Para sa akon, it is very important in a democracy nga may yara kita sang nagakalain-lain nga klase kag katapo sang media. Kami nga ara sa gobyerno, mas kinanghalanan pa kag naganami pa gid amon serbisyo kon damo aton katapo sa media,” he said.

Treñas recalled how the media worked in the gruelling times of Martial Law as he was also a Martial Law detainee.

“Kaagi man ko una napreso sang tiyempo sang Martial Law wala gid ya katapo sang media nga gintugtan sang gobyerno kay ang tanan to pro (administration) gid lang gagwa,” he shared.

Baronda and two other Iloilo representatives – Janette Loreto-Garin (Iloilo 1st district) and Sharon Garin (AAMBIS-OWA Partylist) – all voted “yes” to the resolution of the committee Technical Working Group junking the ABS-CBN franchise.

Some Ilonggos expressed disappointment on the votes of the three Ilonggas.

In a viral post of Daily Guardian on Friday, Ilonggo netizens swarmed the comment section criticizing the Ilonggo lawmakers who voted to junk the franchise of ABS-CBN.

“Don’t renew also their positions in the 2022 elections. They don’t deserve to be called ‘representatives’. Now more than ever, we need true leaders not politicians,” one netizen said.

“Ilonggos, we owe it to ourselves to choose better leaders. People like Baronda and Garin should be voted out in the next election,” another netizen said.
For another netizen, “they never represent lloilo nor the Ilonggos. They only speak for themselves.”

The three Ilonggo representatives have not made any comment or statement on the issue since the controversial voting on Friday. (ERS)