By Francis Allan L. Angelo
Caution: This is a satire for your reading pleasure. #RiceRiceIloilo
In Iloilo City, where the sun is hot but the politics are hotter, Mayor Jerry P. Treñas has passed the political baton—or perhaps, hot potato—to his daughter, Raisa Treñas-Chu, in a relay race for the city’s congressional seat.
It seems the city’s political stew is being kept all in the family, as Raisa is set to sprint for office in the 2025 elections, with the hearty endorsement of her father and a cheerleading squad of barangay officials.
“Keeping it in the family ensures the political recipe remains unchanged, a blend of traditional favor and a dash of nepotistic spice,” the Mayor might as well have said, at a press briefing that felt more like a family reunion than a political announcement.
The current rep, Juliene “Jamjam” Baronda, who previously enjoyed the mayor’s backing as if it were a comfy political hammock, is now suddenly standing on the political lawn wondering why the music has stopped and she’s the one without a chair. Nevertheless, she has gracefully tip-toed around any potential political landmines, advocating for unity—a unity that, while certainly musical, seems to be playing a slightly different tune these days.
“We respect the musical chairs of politics and understand that when the tune changes, so must the dance,” she might have said, continuing the metaphor of political unity as the Iloilo City folk dance where everyone ends up in the same place they started.
Mayor Treñas lauded Cong. Baronda’s graceful step back from the spotlight, making it sound as though a potential political duel had all the makings of a melodramatic telenovela, which, out of mutual respect, they’ve decided to cancel before the pilot episode.
As for Treñas-Chu, previously a hopeful on the Uswag Ilonggo party-list, her campaign seems ready to roll out a smorgasbord of development programs that are so closely aligned with her father’s vision, one might think it’s a case of ‘like father, like daughter’ political strategy. With dreams of city improvement on the menu, she stands ready to serve.
“After all, why settle for fresh ideas when family recipes have been satisfying political appetites for generations?” Raisa could quip, as she prepares to take her place at the political dining table.
Mayor Treñas has touted his daughter’s qualifications with the pride of a Yelp review for a five-star restaurant, highlighting her robust education and her experience in running both an organization and the family’s back-office politics.
To fill the city council’s upcoming vacancies, a veritable political draft is underway, scouting talent from the ranks of former councilors and community leaders. Councilor Nick Baronda’s fate, however, is being treated like a ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ book, left in his own hands.
Vice Mayor Jeffrey Ganzon, meanwhile, seems set to continue as Mayor Treñas’s right hand, solidifying a political duo that might as well go by the moniker “TrenGanz”—a brand seemingly as steadfast as a two-for-one coupon in the world of local governance.
In the swirling political pot of Iloilo City, the Treñas legacy continues to simmer, with a dash of drama and a pinch of pragmatism, promising to keep the city’s political climate just the right amount of steamy. As for the political shift, it’s as subtle as a fiesta banner, heralding the ongoing festival of family politics in this vibrant city.
