ILOILO City – “She is no ordinary employee. And there is somebody using her.”
Thus said Mayor Jerry Treñas of Rosita Camacho, a special operations officer at the Iloilo City Hall who had accused him of coercion and oppression on the set of the TV program “Digong 8888 Hotline” hosted by presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo.
The mayor said Camacho’s appearance was somebody else’s idea aimed at destroying his political ascendancy.
The mayor denied the allegations of Camacho and accused her of being under the influence of a master.
Asked for the master’s name, Treñas said, “Your guess is as good as mine.”
He said that while he had never threatened Camacho, whom he had not met for a long time, “Duha ka bagay ang indi ko gid mapatawad – electioneering in so far as regular employees are concerned, and corruption.”
“Waay ko ya kabalo kon ano iya gusto nga away kay waay man ko gaaway sa iya. Ang iya ya may gina atubang sya nga kaso. Alatubangon ya na,” he added.
Before she became a regular employee at city hall during the incumbency of Mayor Jose Espinosa III, Rosita Camacho had already been working as mayordoma of the Espinosa family, said Treñas.
To recall, Camacho made use of the TV program to accuse the mayor of pressuring her and a few others to file a six-month leave of absence, otherwise they would be facing charges. She allegedly complied out of fear.
“Sa mahal naming Presidente,” she addressed President Duterte in halting Tagalog, “humihingi po ako ng tulong. Ordinaryong empleyado lang ako. Natatakot ako sa buhay ko kung ano ang mangyari sa akin. Ikaw nga e, hinamon ka n’ya noon ng suntukan…”
By then, Camacho had slapped a complaint against Mayor Treñas before the Office of the Ombudsman for grave coercion.
On the other hand, four terminated job hires – namely Myla Jardiolin, Raymund Gapol, Milanette Allado and Fely Minerva – executed an administrative complaint against Rosita Camacho at the Office of the Mayor for violation of Republic Act 6713 (Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees) on political neutrality.
In their joint affidavit received by the Office of the Mayor on Oct. 25, 2019, the four alleged that sometime in April 2018 at Graciano Hall, seventh floor of city hall, Camacho met with them and other job hires and instructed them to campaign for then mayor Espinosa who was running against Treñas, otherwise, they would be terminated.
Nevertheless, they wrote, they were terminated and replaced by Espinosa supporters.
They also cited a joint circular of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) stating that no officer or employee in the civil service may engage in any electioneering or partisan political activity.
A portion of their affidavit stated, “By actively participating in partisan political activity, respondent Rosita Camacho committed a breach of her solemn duty to discharge her function with utmost responsibility, integrity and loyalty. She has also violated Section 4 of Republic Act 6713 on political neutrality which states that public officials and employees shall provide service to everyone without discrimination and regardless of party affiliation or preference.”/PN
