ILOILO CITY — Mayor Jerry Treñas said the administrative charges filed against him regarding the demolition of the 80-year-old art deco façade of the Iloilo City Central Market is "politically motivated."
"Well, now, it's already driven by politics," Treñas said in a press conference on Monday.
His remark was in response to the 17-page administrative complaint filed by Jose Nereo Lujan, a cultural heritage advocate and the chief of the Iloilo Provincial Information and Community Affairs Office (Picao), before the Office of the Ombudsman Visayas on July 4.
Lujan accused Treñas of grave misconduct, grave abuse of authority, conduct unbecoming, and acts prejudicial to the interest of service in his order to demolish the Central Market.
The city mayor, however, was firm in his stance that he did not violate any laws.
"I wonder who Lujan's lawyer is. We also have to look at the connections of his lawyer," he said.
Lujan, however, clarified that the decision to file a case against the mayor is a personal cause, driven by his commitment as a historian and a heritage advocate.
Meanwhile, Lujan's legal counsel in his standing cyber libel case with the city mayor is Atty. Doni June Almio. The cyber libel case was filed by Treñas in May this year.
The Picao chief said he chose Almio based on "professional competence, not political connections."
Lujan previously said that he received reports of the city mayor attempting to discredit his complaint by falsely linking him to Iloilo City Rep. Julienne Baronda.
"The narrative they are spinning hinges on the fact that my lawyer, Atty. Doni Almio, has a past professional association with former councilor Love Baronda, the congresswoman's sister (Jamjam). This is a blatant attempt to divert attention from the real issue at hand – the unlawful demolition of a heritage structure," he said.
The lawmaker and the city mayor recently parted ways as political allies after the latter announced the candidacy of her daughter and executive assistant to run for Congress in the midterm elections.
"The accusation of political motivation is a classic deflection tactic, aiming to shift public focus away from the core concern," he added.
The Picao chief also alleged that Treñas has not presented any evidence to confirm that the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) sanctioned the destruction of the structure.
A February 2023 letter of the NHCP under then-chairman Rene Escalante told the city government that upon its review of the documents and proposed development plans, the agency is "amenable to the project since it will restore the original architectural character of the old Iloilo Central Market."
There was no categorical mention of an approval of the demolition of the façade in the NHCP's letter of response.
In the NHCP website, there is also no board resolution from 2022 to 2023 indicating that the commission granted clearance for the structure's demolition.
"Treñas's insistence that he followed the law must be substantiated with concrete evidence. Until then, his claims remain unproven. The focus should be on whether due process was followed and whether the demolition was legally justified," Lujan said.
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