ILOILO City – Some three weeks after sacking Iñigo Garingalao as director of the Iloilo City Anti-Smoking Task Force (ICAST), Mayor Jerry Treñas announced his reappointment.
“People who have done a good job will have to (be) return(ed) to their jobs,” Treñas said after yesterday’s flag-raising ceremony at city hall.
The mayor also said Garingalao “waay man siya nag-intra sa pamulitika” (did not engage in partisan political activities).
Early this month, Treñas announced that the chiefs of three city government task forces – anti-smoking, boardinghouse and illegal structures – were removed from their posts.
The two others were Ben Palma of the Boardinghouse Commission and Roberto Dumanil of the Task Force on Anti-Squatting and Illegal Structures.
Treñas said he wanted his own trusted men to head these task forces.
Garingalao had been heading ICAST these past nine years beginning with the administration of then Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog in 2010. He was a regular city government employee holding the plantilla position of Community Affairs Officer III.
With ICAST under Garingalao’s watch, the city reaped numerous recognitions and awards. The latest was the “World No Tobacco Day Award” shared with four other awardees in the Western Pacific region (Xi’an Municipal People’s Government; Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Guam Non-Communicable Disease Consortium Tobacco Control Action Team; and Niue Ministry of Social Services).
The World Health Organization lauded the Iloilo City government for undertaking a multi-pronged approach against tobacco use.
It cited the intensive “quit campaign” (smoking cessation services) in health centers and stronger measures to protect minors from smoking.
Due to ICAST’s campaign, Iloilo City also became a Red Orchid Hall of Famer from 2012 to 2014.
The Red Orchid is an award given by the Department of Health to local governments, government offices and government hospitals that are 100 percent tobacco-free.
In a previous interview, Garingalao declined to speculate on rumors that his political leanings may have cost him his task force post.
“I don’t know much about that. Totoy ako sa pulitika. Tungod permanent employee ako, nagahalong ako,” said Garingalao.
As to the alleged complaints against the anti-smoking task force, Garingalao said, “Kon law enforcer ka, susceptible ka sa reklamo.”/PN
