By Joseph B.A. Marzan
Iloilo City Lone District Rep. Julienne “Jam-Jam” Baronda admitted on Monday that she was hurt when City Mayor Jerry Treñas repeatedly referred to her as a “secretary” of the National Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (NIATFMEID).
Baronda, along with fellow lawmakers Janette Garin (Iloilo first district) and Sharon Garin (AAMBIS-OWA partylist), had been tagged in pushing the Western Visayas Regional Task Force on COVID-19 (WVRTF) for the repatriation of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) from Panay Island who were stranded in Metro Manila.
Treñas and Baronda ran under the same ticket in the May 2019 elections.
The latest batch of repatriated OFWs arrived at the Port of Iloilo on April 29 aboard the so-called “Malasakit Voyage.”
The batch included five OFWs, one from Guimaras and four from Iloilo City, who tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) using the Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) testing.
Two others had initially tested positive during the rapid antibody testing.
Speaking to the press after a WVRTF meeting on May 2, Treñas denied knowing Baronda’s involvement in the repatriation process.
“You have to ask [Rep. Julienne Baronda and Rep. Janette Garin] on what they can do right now because this is what they have done, if they were the ones who facilitated the return of the OFWs, they have to come home and answer what they can do further. [Rep. Baronda] has not told me anything. She hasn’t even informed me that she was the one who coordinated the repatriation. [Rep. Garin] hasn’t contacted me on this either,” he said.
In a message sent to Daily Guardian on Sunday, Baronda clarified that the NIATFMEID facilitated the repatriation.
She said that her role was merely to bridge the WVRTF and the NIATFMEID through Secretary Carlito Galvez, Chief Implementer of the COVID-19 National Action Plan.
“The Malasakit Voyage is an initiative of the national government agencies. [The Department of Transportation/Maritime Industry Authority, Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration, Philippine Coast Guard, Office of Civil Defense] and other agencies have been bringing stranded OFWs back to their home provinces. My participation was bridging the [WVRTF] through the OCD as well as the [NIATFMEID] Chief Implementor Galvez with our good mayor upon their request,” she said.
Baronda said she only attended to the repatriation requests of OFWs that were sent to her office.
“Our team received concerns that the repatriated OFWs do not have breakfast upon their arrival. Knowing this, we volunteered to prepare this meal for them. Similarly, many of our Ilonggo OFWs who have yet to return have been seeking assistance from us. We look to aid them in any way we can,” she said.
On the other hand, the Garins denied their involvement in the repatriation.
“I did not. [I was not] aware. Whoever is creating intrigues, [m]ay God forgive them. But if we have constituents there, we [are] ready to accept and manage them,” Rep. Janette Garin said in a text message to Daily Guardian.
“No, I didn’t even know about it,” Rep. Sharon Garin said.
‘SECRETARY BARONDA’
In a press conference Monday, Treñas shifted to a more questioning tone over Baronda’s involvement.
Treñas said that the lack of proper coordination with the WVRTF would send the repatriation processes “back to square one.”
“[Her office has] already facilitated [RT-PCR] tests in Manila and they’re sending them here. I said they should go through the [WVRTF]. What does that make us in the local government, when a legislator intervenes to work for the [WVRTF] because they can’t stop themselves? How many congressmen do we have [in the region]? We wouldn’t know what to do. That prompted RD Nuñez to go [to Rep. Baronda] instead of talking to me. That is taking us back to square one, because she has people there facilitating. They should just go to the [WVRTF]. It would take us many days to talk again, and I’d feel sad for [the OFWs] who are still stranded,” he said.
Treñas admitted that the city government is already confused as to whom they should coordinate with.
“For me, we’re getting confused as to whom we should coordinate with, Congresswoman Jam-jam? Am I going to ignore [OCD Regional Director Jose Roberto] Nuñez? She will coordinate everything? We have already decided on some protocol. Even [Department of National Defense Secretary] Lorenzana has been informed of this, that if the [NIATFMEID] has coordinated with the [WVRTF], then we give our go signal so [the OFWs] can already return. But if everyone is just coordinating, I would opt out because it becomes difficult,” he said.
The mayor then turned sarcastic over Baronda’s involvement, saying that if she wanted to interfere, she can do so but without jeopardizing the process.
He urged her to properly coordinate with the WVRTF.
“Hilabot sya eh! Kon indi ya gid mapunggan lawas ya, hilabot sya eh! (She should interfere! If she can’t help herself from doing so, then she should interfere). We’ve already wound down because we’ve fixed the process, then this comes up. Just don’t mess it up because we want [the OFWs] to go home already. Please don’t mess this up. I’m asking Jam-jam, we’re friends and we ran together in the recent elections. You should leave the work to the [WVRTF]. If you want to facilitate, you have to communicate with the [WVRTF]. If you’re working in behalf of the [WVRTF] that’s not allowed. I’m not a part of the [WVRTF], I’m a local chief executive,” he said.
He clarified that he did not misinterpret Baronda, saying that he will only coordinate with Director Nuñez of the WVRTF.
“What I’ve said is that we would be coordinating with Director Nuñez. We’ve never misinterpreted anything, we just established that we would coordinate with the [WVRTF]. I didn’t misinterpret her. We still follow the protocol. I do not want to say that there is a breakdown in Manila, which will require the services of ‘Secretary’ Baronda. If she is a now a member of the [NIATFMEID] as secretary, then maybe now she has an official function. What is she, secretary of the [NIATFMEID]?” the mayor added.
BARONDA’S REACTION
In an interview with Bombo Radyo Iloilo, Baronda clarified her role in the repatriation saying that she had been doing “standing” coordination between the NIATFMEID and the WVRTF since early April.
“The coordination was clear since the beginning of April. It was a standing coordination with the NIATFMEID and the WVRTF since April 4 until now. Because of several developments, the WVRTF’s original requirements only included the quarantine and not the [RT-PCR], but with what has happened with the OFW arrivals on April 9, where one of them tested positive with the rapid test, they changed the requirements to include the [RT-PCR] test. I heeded the request of Mayor Treñas that time not to allow the mercy flight [of the OFWs] which is why I facilitated the [RT-PCR] testing of the OFWs in Manila. This is a standing coordination, so the [WVRTF] is the one who coordinates with the city. We all belong to the same group, and I just wanted to send them the negative results from the OFWs. I wanted to be proactive,” she said.
The lady representative maintained she had done nothing wrong, and that she had cleared things up with Nuñez.
“First of all, I haven’t heard anything but I’ve talked to Director Nuñez. We’ve stressed out all points. It’s clear that we didn’t do anything wrong. My conscience is clear. We work based on our capabilities to help the people of Iloilo City. It’s clear with the [WVRTF] what the proper coordination should be. It’s also clear to us what we should do. We need to move forward because there are other challenges we need to face,” she said.
Baronda said she was hurt by the mayor’s remarks during his press conference.
“Well, for me, I’m a little hurt, but not disappointed. As I’ve said, we cannot control how the people see things. Maybe it’s miscommunication or what, what’s important is we move forward. We’ve already talked with Director Nuñez on what we should be doing in these next situations,” she said.
