The controversies hounding Iloilo City Mayor Jerry P. Treñas seems to be never-ending. Just last week, several media organizations feasted on the confirmation and sight of the enlarged portrait of his daughter Raisa Chu hanged along his image and other high-ranking government officials in several barangay halls in the city.

The practice of hanging portraits of government officials in government offices and schools has been banned by former president Rodrigo Duterte through Memorandum Circular (MC) No. 25 dated September 15, 2017 saying that these portraits are better hanged inside the houses or living rooms of those concerned people instead of government offices. After Duterte left, several government offices returned to such practice of hanging on their walls the portrait of the president, head of the government agency where the office belongs and in the case of barangay halls, the portrait of the president, the congressman (woman), the mayor and the barangay captain.

Then came the discovery that some barangay halls in Iloilo City have taken out the portrait of Representative Jamjam Baronda and replaced it with the face of Raisa alongside the faces of the mayor, the barangay captain and the president.

While I find it hard to look for a reference point of this discussion since there is no law that prescribes such practice, commonsense tells us that the act is not without an order coming from the camp of the city mayor or from himself. Funny though, Raisa is not an elected official of the land or her position is not equivalent to that of the Interior and Local Government portfolio who was appointed by the president. Her only achievement is, aside from being a successful woman in her own right, she is the anointed one to succeed the mayoral or congressional position of her father and an appointed executive assistant at the Iloilo City Hall to date.

I just couldn’t understand why Mayor Treñas has come to this point just to push his daughter to power. It’s possibly the lowest act he can do to insult the democratic process just to make sure that his daughter achieves the recall prior to the May 2025 midterm elections. Of course, the mayor will simply deny it and instead will out the blame to the barangay captains. Even so, no barangay official would be too dumb to even consider such an act unless of course the barangay captain is really dumb which is so true in many cases.

Apparently, Mayor Treñas has returned to the dark days of Philippine politics when those who are in power would treat their constituents like dogs and would expect them to simply follow whatever command they make. He wants himself, his son, daughter and nephew to hold power and is expecting every Iloilo City resident to tow the line. He seems inclined to do it no matter what it takes.

Or perhaps, the mayor is now desperate. I can hear the silence of Jamjam Baronda and its really sending chills to the brains of the once powerful mayor.