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BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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Wednesday, April 12, 2017
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ILOILO City – “For the moment, ako lang isa ang PDP-Laban diri,” according to Cong. Jerry Treñas.
He issued the statement yesterday after confirming having invited city councilors who were once his colleagues in the Liberal Party to join the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino – Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban).
The invitation was made a week after it was reported that President Rodrigo Duterte picked Councilor Jeffrey Ganzon as his point man in Iloilo City and invited the councilor to join PDP-Laban.
Ganzon was one of those Treñas invited to his office yesterday.
“I went to the congressman’s office as a sign of respect. But he need not invite me to join PDP-Laban because the President himself endorsed my membership to the party,” said Ganzon.
Treñas denied the invitation was prompted by the President’s meeting with Ganzon and the political implications of such meeting.
“Kon may i-appoint, wala man kaso sa akon,” said Treñas.
The congressman announced December last year that he won’t run for any political office anymore after his term in 2019 ends.
“There is no reason for me not to continue with my plan,” said Treñas.
Ganzon said local politics was not discussed during his meeting with the President.
He also declined to speculate on his possible running for Iloilo City mayor in 2019 as PDP-Laban candidate.
Councilor Plaridel Nava, however, believed Treñas was panicking, citing the congressman’s “body language.”
“When he learned that the President summoned Councilor Ganzon to Davao for a meeting, daw nag-panic si congressman, daw subong gusto niya ipa-appear nga siya ya ang point man (of the President in Iloilo City), that’s why he summoned the city councilors and asked them to join PDP-Laban,” said Nava.
Treñas did not invite Nava and Councilor Joshua Alim, opposition figures in the city council, to join PDP-Laban.
“Sa body language ni congressman makita nga naga-build-up na siya subong. Ang mga leaders namon sa barangay gamuno sa amon nga ang recruitment sige, ang strengthening sige,” said Nava.
The other councilors Treñas met yesterday were R Leone Gerochi, Jay Treñas, Reyland Hervias, Eduardo Peñaredondo, Lady Julie Grace Baronda, Ely Estante, Armand Parcon, Mandrie Malabor, Liezl Joy Zulueta, and Candice Magdalene Tupas.
“I hope the city council indi magpadasig-dasig upod sa iya,” said Nava.
Treñas, formerly a member of the Liberal Party, transferred to PDP-Laban weeks after Duterte won the presidential elections in May last year.
He did not say why it took him nearly a year to invite the city councilors to PDP-Laban.
“Sang una inupdanay man ta sa Liberal, ti basi magsiling kamo nga waay ta gid kamo ginhagad sa PDP,” Treñas recalled telling the city councilors yesterday.
President Duterte summoned Ganzon to a meeting in Davao City on March 27 and invited the city councilor to join his PDP-Laban.
“The President said he doesn’t have a ‘point man’ in Iloilo City but acknowledged the help of several Ilonggo doctors during last year’s elections,” said Ganzon, son of the late senator Rodolfo “Roding” Ganzon.
One of the groups that supported Duterte was the Family Physicians Association and according to Ganzon, his elder brother Dr. Denfield Ganzon was the group’s president.
The President reached out to him right after the elections, according to the councilor.
“He told (Special Assistant to the President) Bong Go, ipasok mo sa PDP-Laban, kay (Sen. Aquilino) Pimentel (III),” said Ganzon.
Pimentel is the PDP-Laban president.
Ganzon ran for city councilor under the Liberal Party and topped the race.
“I told the President I ran under the LP because I wanted to be No. 1,” he said. “But my loyalty has always been with the people, not the party.”
The LP was then the dominant political party.
“The President asked me if I have a derogatory record especially in graft and corruption and illegal drugs. I told him I don’t. Sa baba ya mismo naghalin nga, ‘Ikaw lang da himuon ko nga tawo,’” said Ganzon.
It helped that the President was an admirer of the late senator Ganzon, added the councilor.
Ganzon, however, said the date of his oath-taking to PDP-Laban was yet to be set./PN
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