ILOILO City – Mayor Jerry Treñas has been slapped with another complaint at the Office of the Ombudsman for alleged grave coercion, violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, grave misconduct, oppression, and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.
The complainant was Special Operations Officer III Rosita Camacho of the Office of Senior Citizens Affairs and whom Treñas described during the midterm election campaign as a mayordoma of his rival and estranged brother-in-law, then mayor Jose Espinosa III.
Camacho claimed she was forced to take a leave of absence.
She also included in her complaint City Administrator Melchor Tan, Assistant City Administrator and Executive Assistant Noel Panaguiton, Assistant Department Head II Josephine Agudo, and Human Resource Management Officer Leo Elevencione.
Camacho was the third employee at city hall to file administrative and criminal charges against Treñas and several other city government officials. The two others were Book Binder II Joe Mari Esteral under the civil registry office and Dr. Bernard Caspe, chief of the City Health Office.
In the weeks leading to the May 13 midterm elections, according to Camacho, Treñas kept bringing up her name in derogatory and embarrassing terms.
On July 3, 2019, according to Camacho, she was summoned by Tan and was told to take a six-month leave or charges would be filed against her.
She reluctantly complied, she said, on the following dates:
* July 11 to July 31 (with leave credits)
* Aug. 5 to Aug. 16 (with leave credits)
* Aug. 19 to Aug. 30 (leave credits used up already, thus no pay)
* Sept. 1 to Dec. 31, 2019 (122 days without pay)
On Aug. 23, according to Camacho, Panaguiton told her, “Ros, Mayor Jerry is firm in his decision, everything is ready if you don’t comply, NBI (National Bureau of Investigation), CIDG (Criminal Investigation and Detection Group), lawyers, and even funds for the cases against you.”
Camacho claimed that her application for leave from Sept. 1 to Dec. 31 was prepared, signed and approved by Agudo, Elevencione and Treñas.
“The experience left me in constant anxiety, deep depression, shame, sleepless nights,” Camacho lamented.
Treñas and the other respondents could not be reached for comment as of this writing.
However, in recent interviews regarding the Ombudsman complaints of Esteral and Caspe, Treñas said the City Legal Office would be taking care of the complaints./PN
