BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez appears non-confrontational in his response to the remarks of Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas in response to his recent statements.
Benitez said he and Treñas have been long-time friends and “I look up him as a mentor and a yardstick of leadership and initiative.”
“I admire Iloilo City. In fact, Mayor Jerry Treñas is my idol,” the Bacolod City mayor stressed.
Treñas was reacting to statements, questioning the basis of claims issued by Benitez during the MassKara festivities where the latter said Bacolod has surpassed Iloilo.
While Iloilo is ahead of Bacolod in a lot of ways, Treñas said Bacolod has the advantage when it comes to renewable energy, specifically wind energy, apparently referring to the hot air constantly generated by Bacolod’s claims of superiority.
“Ang napierdihan ta gid lang sa Bacolod ang ila nga renewable energy. Ano ang renewable energy sa Bacolod? Ang ila wind energy. Kay syado gid didto ka hangin sa Bacolod. Kay ang ila permi lang gaandar ang hangin didto. Te sa sugid pierde gid kita permi (We are behind Bacolod in terms of renewable energy. Which renewable energy? Their wind energy because it is very windy there. It is all wind there and when it comes to talk, we are no match),” Treñas said.
The Iloilo City mayor further claimed that in terms of cleanliness, Iloilo is way ahead, compared to Bacolod, aside from being the champion in tourism events for several years.
Benitez clarified that that he has nothing but admiration for Treñas.
“Guro kun may ara nalapawan ang Bacolod sa Iloilo, amo na nga mas huben kag gwapo ang mayor (Maybe the only advantage Bacolod has over Iloilo is the mayor is younger and handsome),” the Bacolod City mayor said in jest.
“Kidding aside, we are proud of Bacolod’s recovery so far. We just had a very successful MassKara Festival which boosted local consumption,” he added.
“Ang hangin sa Bacolod makusog nga nagadapya pakadto sa mainuswagon nga ekonomiya (The wind in Bacolod is blowing strongly towards a prosperous economy), Benitez further said.*
