Iloilo gov’t has no role in confab of village chiefs

ILOILO CITY—A controversial convention of village chiefs of Iloilo province in a giant mall in Manila will not be funded by the provincial government, Iloilo Gov. Arthur Defensor said.

Defensor also pointed out that the convention, scheduled on March 22 to 24 at SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City, is a gathering of provincial village chiefs, not village chiefs nationwide.

The governor has advised the village officials to put off the trip and instead hold the convention in the province.

Officials of the provincial chapter of the League of Barangays, led by Board Member Jeneda Salcedo-Orendain, have come under fire for planning the convention in Manila amid the devastation left by Super Typhoon “Yolanda” in the province.

Orendain, president of the League of Barangays in Iloilo, sits on the provincial board as an ex-officio member.

Participants in the convention will each pay a registration fee of P16,800 excluding travel expenses, which will be bankrolled by village funds, according to Orendain.

The provincial chapter has at least 1,721 members but the village chiefs of Estancia, Calinog and Janiuay towns will not attend because of lack of funds, as their areas have yet to recover from Yolanda. Nestor P. Burgos Jr., Inquirer Visayas