Joe denies cutting power supply to Jerry’s office

ILOILO City Mayor Jose Espinosa III denied cutting the supply of electricity to the district office of Rep. Jerry Treñas.

Espinosa said he only sought the termination of the service meter of the City Agriculture Office and the City Animal Bite Center as these will be transferred to the Kerr & Company Building.

On Aug 15, 2019, the mayor wrote Panay Electric Company (PECO) asking for the termination of Meter No. S-15313 as the offices that connect to the meter will transfer from Macario Peralta Street, to the ground floor of the Kerr & Company Building along Ortiz Street.

The Agriculture’s Office used to occupy the ground floor of the building where the Office of the Congressman is also located.

“Unless the Office of the Congressman tapped to the line, then it will be affected. Otherwise, I have nothing to do with the office of the congressman,” Espinosa said.

In a phone interview, Rep. Treñas confirmed that the service meter of his office is also that of the City Agriculture’s Office and that the city government pays for his office’s power bills.

But Espinosa said he is clueless of Treñas’ claims as the city government is only paying for the electricity bill of the agriculture office.

But the mayor confirmed that he once called the attention of City Agriculturist Romulo Pangantihon because his office has one of the highest electricity bills at roughly P85,000 a month.

“I don’t know how big the office is but I told him to economize because his bill is high,” he said.

Espinosa also denied that he trying to “persecute” Treñas whom he will face in the mayoral race in the 2019 midterm elections.

“Ang Office sang Congressman may budget na ya. Paano ka ipton sang syudad? So nakibot ako nga may issue nga gina-utdan ko,” he said.

“I can only act on the departments under the city government. The Office of the Congressman is not under me. If the congressman’s office does not have its own meter, I have nothing to do with that. If it will ask for help from the city, then I have to consult with the legal (office),” he added.

Espinosa said he transferred the agriculture office to a new location for it to have a wider space for meetings as the beautification project in the city is now with the agriculture department.

“The beautification project covers more than 100 personnel so we want to provide them a comfortable space during meetings,” he said.

MOTIVE

In a phone interview, Rep. Treñas said he “does not want to ascribe any motive towards what is happening.”

But he said that during the previous administrations, the electricity bill was never an issue.

“Since the time of former mayor (Mansueto) Malabor, when I was mayor, then when Jed (Patrick Mabilog) was mayor, daw it was never an issue. Subong lang nga daw issue,” he said.

Treñas said he is now looking for other means so as not to disrupt the services of his office.

SOURCE: The Daily Guardian

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