Treñas to withdraw persona non grata tag vs Familiaran

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas has decided to withdraw the declaration of persona non grata against Bacolod City Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran.

This, after Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez appealed to Treñas to recall his executive order (EO) tagging Familiaran as “undesirable and unwelcome in Iloilo City.”

“Technically, there were lapses done that were not the vice mayor’s doing,” Benitez said in a press conference on Monday, July 3.

EO No. 083 was issued by Treñas against the then-acting mayor “for his role in the uncoordinated and poorly planned transfer of the Badjaos to their respective domiciles.”

“While the Iloilo City Government does not discriminate against nor feel any indifference against the Badjaos, the undersigned strongly abhors the act of [Familiaran] in his capacity as [acting city mayor] to have ordered the transfer of the Badjaos to Iloilo City despite lack of coordination and communication with the supposed LGUs (local government units) involved especially with the [city government],” the EO stated.

According to a report by the Philippine News Agency, the Badjaos traveled on June 21 from Bredco port in Bacolod on board a roll-on, roll-off vessel bound for the port of Dumangas, Iloilo.

“They were sent off by personnel of the Department of Social Services and Development and officials of various barangays here back home to Mindanao via Panay Island, but it turned out they proceeded to Iloilo City and stayed there instead,” the report said.

In a media interview, Familiaran said the Badjaos were booked on a Jolo-bound roll-on-roll-off vessel that had docked in Dumangas Port.