ILOILO City – Bacolod City’s Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez apologized to Mayor Jerry Treñas for the deluge of mendicant Badjaos from Bacolod.
Benitez explained that due to the large number of Badjao families handled by the Bacolod City Anti-Mendicancy Task Force, it failed to properly coordinate with the city and province of Iloilo regarding the arrival of these families from Bacolod.
“I would like to express my sincere apologies to the local government of Iloilo and to Iloilo City mayor Jerry Treñas for this blunder. Rest assured that we will not make the same mistake again in the future,” stressed Benitez in a statement.
He added: “We value the harmonious relationship between the cities of Bacolod and Iloilo.”
Treñas got mad upon learning that Iloilo was made a “dumping ground” of the Badjaos. He particularly called out Bacolod City’s Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran who was the acting mayor when the Badjaos were sent off to Iloilo.
Benitez narrated that on Wednesday, June 21, their taskforce received a complaint from the security guard of a warehouse at the Bacolod Reclamation Area regarding the presence of Badjaos in the said area.
The taskforce, in coordination with village chiefs of barangays 2, 8, 10, and 12 and Police Stations 2 and 6, rounded up around 80 Badjaos.
“After being interviewed and evaluated by our Department of Social Services and Development (DSSD), majority of these families requested that they be sent to their home places. Acceding to their request, the city assisted them in going home by paying for their transportation fare via ro-ro vessel,” he added.
For his part, Treñas accepted the apology of Benitez.
However, he stressed that the city is sending all the Badjaos back to Bacolod.
“I value very much the harmonious relations of both our cities and I have never ever done anything to destroy the same in my long years of public service since 1986,” Treñas stressed./PN
