ILOILO City – A supporter of Mayor Jose Espinosa III was physically assaulted by the wife of the barangay captain of Rizal Pala-Pala II yesterday morning.
The 39-year-old Jesalyn Balgos, councilwoman of Barangay Rizal Pala-Pala II, complained to the police that Teresita Soliman slapped her face and pulled her hair around 9:30 a.m. while accompanying Espinosa in a house-to-house campaign.
Soliman was the wife of Barangay Captain Noel Soliman whom Espinosa wanted investigated for alleged anomalies at the Iloilo Terminal Market.
The Solimans were supporters of Cong. Jerry Treñas who is running for mayor against Espinosa.
The physical confrontation was witnessed by Espinosa himself. He was shocked, said the mayor.
“Tani gamay lang nga respeto sa city mayor. We went to the barangay to campaign, not to look for trouble. Kampanya lang tani sang matawhay, indi nga manggamo,” said Espinosa.
Espinosa said Soliman may have suspected Balgos to have instigated him to seek an investigation on the alleged irregularities at the Iloilo Terminal Market.
The mayor clarified that his calling for the probe was prompted by complaints from fish vendors.
Fish vendors said they were being forced to cough up P50 for using tables, P10 for the trapal and P15 for the lights at the Iloilo Terminal Market, popularly called “Super.”
Other than the arkabala that the city government collects, the market vendors have nothing else to pay, stressed Espinosa.
“Everything is free except for the arkabala nga ginasukot sang syudad. Kon indi legal nga panukot indi gid kamo mag bayad,” he said.
Espinosa confirmed having asked National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) regional director George Jularbal to probe the illegal collection of fees at “Super.”
Describing the illegal activity as large-scale, he said the market vendors were being robbed each day.
Espinosa denied that his move to investigate was politically motivated./PN
