Iloilo mayor revokes persona non grata decision vs Bacolod vice mayor

FILE / official Facebook page of Mayor Jerry Treñas

BACOLOD CITY — Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas has officially revoked his earlier executive order declaring Bacolod Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran persona non grata for the arrival of 80 Badjaos in this city.

Trenas issued Executive Order No. 088 on Thursday, July 13, revoking Executive Order No. 083 series of 2023 which declared Familiaran, undesirable and unwelcome in the City of Iloilo effective immediately.

Treñas in EO 083 declared Familiaran persona non grata “in view of the uncoordinated transfer of the 80 Badjaos also known as sea gypsies in Iloilo” last month.

The Bacolod City government was sending the Badjaos back to Mindanao but they instead disembarked at the Dumangas port and went to Iloilo City.

The Iloilo City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) was unable to effectively prepare due to the uncoordinated transfer of these Badjaos which inevitably hampered the services that the office could provide, Treñas said in EO 088.

Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez and Familiaran both apologized for the mix-up in the arrival of 80 Badjaos in Iloilo and it was later disclosed that certain lapses on the lack of coordination with the Iloilo City government were not solely attributable to the vice mayor, Trenas said.

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