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BY PRINCE GOLEZ and GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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Saturday, March 3, 2018
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Village chiefs ‘pressure’ Treñas to run for mayor
ILOILO City – Over 170 barangay captains want him to run for city mayor in next year’s local election, according to Cong. Jerry Treñas. The possibility of him caving in to their wish is not remote.
“I am studying the political landscape,” Treñas told Panay News yesterday in what appeared to be a major shift from a previous pronouncement.
Exactly 15 months ago, on Dec. 2, 2016 he made a firm public announcement that he would be quitting politics in 2019.
He would reiterate this subsequent interviews, even saying in September 2017, “I’ve been saying this since December last year. I won’t change my mind.”
On June 2019 Treñas would have completed his third and final consecutive term as congressman. He is barred by law from seeking a fourth consecutive term.
Now, 14 months before the May 2019 polls, the congressman said his decision would depend on the result of his discussions with people that matter to him.
“I have not yet decided on anything. I have to make further consultations with family members, other leaders and friends,” Treñas told Panay News.
A member of President Rodrigo Duterte’s Partido Demokratiko Pilipino – Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), he did not identify who these “other leaders and friends” were.
One of the factors he cited during his December 2016 announcement was his state of health.
“I lost about 45 pounds last year. Now I have regained about 35 pounds. I am ready,” he said yesterday.
Treñas met the barangay captains over lunch yesterday. He said they wanted Mayor Jose Espinosa III, his brother-in-law, to run for congressman and him for mayor.
“They said I am too young to retire from politics,” said the congressman.
Before joining the House of Representatives in 2010, Treñas served as Iloilo City mayor for three terms (2001-2004, 2004-2007, 2007-2010).
He told Panay News in January 2016 he would be running for mayor after his third term in Congress would end, only to change his mind 11 months after by declaring he would be quitting politics.
Now, Treñas may yet change his mind again. He admitted to have started weighing his options on which elective position to seek if ever he decides to reconsider his December 2016 declaration.
“Kon mapadalagan ko kapitan, kon mapirdi ko, kahuloya man. Kon mapadalagan ko konsehal, ara naman si Jay (Treñas), bata pa na sya ‘ya kag komparar sa akon I’m sure he will get the youth votes. Kon vice mayor man padalaganan ko, damo man interesado magpadalagan,” said Treñas.
Councilor Jay Treñas is a nephew of the congressman.
When he announced he was quitting politics, Treñas endorsed Espinosa, then vice mayor, for city mayor and then mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog for congressman.
Mabilog, however, was dismissed by the Office of the Ombudsman in October last year for unexplained wealth, paving the way for Espinosa to become the Iloilo City mayor.
September last year, Ilonggo senator Franklin Drilon also expressed support for Treñas’ possible mayoral candidacy.
“Daw maayo man nga magbalik s’ya kon sige pa s’ya. Akon ‘ya, kon madalagan si Jerry, si Jerry ang aton nga kandidato,” said Drilon during the inauguration of the Iloilo Esplanade’s Phase 3 and the Nabitasan-San Rafael bypass road.
Drilon belonged to the Liberal Party but he said, “Diri ‘ya’ what is important in Iloilo, regardless of your political affiliation, is if political leaders unite. We will continue the progress of Iloilo.”
Treñas was previously a member of the Liberal Party but weeks after Duterte won the 2016 presidential election, he jumped to PDP-Laban.
“Many have told me I’m only 61 years old and could do more good things for the city,” Treñas told Panay News yesterday.
Leo Lindero, president of the Association of Barangay Captains in the district of Jaro, said most of the barangay captains will definitely support Treñas for mayor.
Treñas told this paper in January 2016 he “always enjoyed being mayor.” The job was “action-oriented” and “very in touch with people,” the lawyer-congressman explained.
In both 2004 and 2007 elections, Treñas won by a landslide in all city precincts. He is the only mayor of Iloilo City to do so, he said./PN
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