ILOILO City – There were lapses on the part of the city government as far as the delivery of the notice suspending cockpit operations to Rockwell Cockpit Arena in Lapuz district here was concerned.
This was revealed during the public consultation conducted by the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) yesterday on the controversial cockfighting activity in the cockpit arena.
Councilor Romel Duron presented during the meeting the affidavit executed by Neil Escala, a city hall job hire, who was tasked to deliver the communication from the City Mayor’s Office (CMO) to cockpit operator Rodrigo Dellomes on March 22. It was disclosed that Escala failed to deliver the letter on the said date.
Escala was assigned at the Public Safety and Transportation Management Office (PSTMO).
He explained that he left the letter inside his car and was able to deliver it the following day (March 23) in the morning.
To recall, the alleged cockfighting transpired on March 22 (evening) until early morning of March 23.
‘WHO’S THE MESSENGER?’
On his part, Councilor Mandrie Malabor sought clarification on the process of sending out these communications.
On the part of the Iloilo Coliseum in Jaro district, it was the police who delivered the notice, while another city hall employee delivered it to the Mandurriao Cockpit Arena, Malabor noted.
“Who really is the official messenger or authorized person to deliver such communications from the CMO?” Malabor asked.
He stressed that having official communication from the local chief executive is different from social media announcements.
Department of Interior and Local Government-Iloilo City director Oscar Lim, meanwhile, echoed Malabor’s point, emphasizing that a written order is a must even if the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) already issued a resolution suspending cockfight activities.
“Ang basic gid sina, once wala mo officially ma-receive ang communication, you cannot say nga ma-apply mo gid na sia kay ti ang Facebook ‘ya, bal–an naton damo-damo na da fake news,” Lim claimed.
He also noted that on the part of Mayor Treñas, he sent out advisories immediately after the IATF and other government agencies issued the directives.
“Siguro may lapses sa delivery. How come and duha ka cockpits nakabaton and then the other one in Lapuz did not receive it. Then there was an affidavit from the personnel of PSTMO, abi ‘ya seguro indi man importante, nalipatan ‘ya,” Lim stressed.
‘KABALO SILA’
Councilor Rudolph Ganzon, on the other hand, pointed out that the cockpit management had apparent knowledge of the suspension considering that it even posted outside the arena that the cockfighting was suspended.
“Ang delivery, there were already lapses. Regardless kon ginbaton nila or wala, kay nagpaskil sila nga suspended, indi na madayon ang bulang. Now sin-o ang manabat sina?” Ganzon said.
Duron, meantime, said they would consolidate all the inputs during the public consultation for possible crafting of ordinance. He emphasized that the same incident should not happen again.
He added that the city council will wait for the action to be taken up by the city mayor against Dellomes after scrutinizing his explanation to the show-cause order./PN
