BACOLOD City – The mayors of the cities of Bacolod and Iloilo – the two highly urbanized cities in Western Visayas – have reaffirmed their commitment to cooperate for the region’s development after netizens seemed to pit them against each other in terms of their respective economic progress and other aspects.
“I admire Iloilo City. In fact, Mayor Jerry Treñas is my idol. We’ve been friends for some time, and I look up to him as a mentor and a yardstick of leadership and initiative,” Bacolod City mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez said on Thursday, Nov. 10.
He is also the chairman-in-waiting of the Regional Development Council 6.
In response, Treñas said, “The development of Bacolod is important to the region. Iloilo City will always be supportive of all its developmental efforts.”
Reactions from social media citizens were triggered when Treñas was quoted reacting to Benitez’s statement during the 43rd MassKara Festival last month, where the Bacolod City mayor was supposed to have said that Bacolod is already ahead of Iloilo.
Earlier this week, media reports quoted Treñas as saying, “We will continue to be the lead city in Region 6. We will continue to be the champion in all events in Region 6. And we will be the best in Region 6.”
This prompted a response from Benitez, who is under isolation after an official trip to Japan due to testing positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on Monday, Nov. 7.
He quipped that if there is one aspect in which Bacolod is ahead of Iloilo, it is this city’s younger and better-looking mayor.
“Kidding aside, we are proud of Bacolod’s recovery so far. We just had a very successful MassKara Festival, which boosted local consumption. The strong wind in Bacolod is blowing towards economic progress,” he said.
During the MassKara Festival’s Media Night, the city mayor mentioned that a major mall and hotel in Bacolod have higher sales compared to their counterparts in Iloilo, and that a multinational food and beverage company has a higher market share in the city as well.
Bacolod and Iloilo are considered twin cities for their proximity to each other, an hour’s travel by sea, and for sharing the same language, Hiligaynon.
In 2010, the former mayors of the two cities signed a twin-city agreement to share best practices and collaborate on promotions. (PNA)/PN
