By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- The arrest of Iloilo City Planning Development Office administrative assistant Winstone Porras in a buy-bust operation conducted by the Jaro police on August 10, 2018 in Brgy. Fatima, Jaro, Iloilo City in the Philippines was shocking.
Porras is not an ordinary city hall employee.
Before landing a job in the city government, Porras, 48, was the youth and political coordinator of former Iloilo City lone district Rep. Rafael Lopez-Vito from 1992-1995.
He served as the chief of staff of former Vice Mayor Victor Facultad and the head of the Sangguniang Panlungsod legislative staff officers from 1998 to 2004.
Porras also ran and lost in a one-on-one duel to then vice mayoral candidate Jed Patrick Mabilog in the 2007 local elections where I served as one of the panelists in their “live” radio debates.
He also reportedly lost in his bid for village chief in the Muelle Loney area in the City Proper in the recent barangay and SK elections.
-o0o-
I became Porras’ friend when I covered the Iloilo City Hall beat in the 90s during the term of Mayor Mansueto Malabor.
Always neatly dressed when reporting for work, Porras was a big source of news for beat reporters in the City Council.
As an outspoken leader of casual employees in the legislative branch, Porras fought for their rights and benefits especially when their salaries and bonuses were delayed.
I’ve known Porras to be an articulate and effective community organizer who was always held in high esteem by his fellow Sanggunian workers who trusted him more than their respective supervisors because of Porras’ penchant to pick up the cudgels every time they felt aggrieved.
Porras also gained the respect of some of his his peers because he always solicited their opinions on certain issues involving their welfare.
He once argued that fellow co-terminus legislative staff officers be given the opportunity to become permanent government workers if they have civil service eligibility and were interested to work with the city government.
-o0o-
In one of his last two Facebook posts before his arrest, Porras “shared” the article I wrote from Newark, New Jersey dated February 8, 2018 entitled, “Iloilo Freedom Grandstand perfect!”
When I saw the video of his arrest posted on social media on his way inside the Jaro police precinct detention cell on Friday night, I was flabbergasted.
It was reported that Porras sold to an undercover police officer a sachet of shabu worth P1,600 before his arrest together with an alleged 24-year-old commercial sex worker, Jerky Marie Jubelag.
He reportedly admitted he was using shabu but did not admit the crime for which he was nabbed.
A former law student, Porras knows whether he is guilty or not.
Now that he is under police custody, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt until he is proven otherwise.
-o0o-
Always neatly dressed when reporting for work, Porras was a big source of news for beat reporters in the City Council.
As an outspoken leader of casual employees in the legislative branch, Porras fought for their rights and benefits especially when their salaries and bonuses were delayed.
I’ve known Porras to be an articulate and effective community organizer who was always held in high esteem by his fellow Sanggunian workers who trusted him more than their respective supervisors because of Porras’ penchant to pick up the cudgels every time they felt aggrieved.
Porras also gained the respect of some of his his peers because he always solicited their opinions on certain issues involving their welfare.
He once argued that fellow co-terminus legislative staff officers be given the opportunity to become permanent government workers if they have civil service eligibility and were interested to work with the city government.
-o0o-
In one of his last two Facebook posts before his arrest, Porras “shared” the article I wrote from Newark, New Jersey dated February 8, 2018 entitled, “Iloilo Freedom Grandstand perfect!”
When I saw the video of his arrest posted on social media on his way inside the Jaro police precinct detention cell on Friday night, I was flabbergasted.
It was reported that Porras sold to an undercover police officer a sachet of shabu worth P1,600 before his arrest together with an alleged 24-year-old commercial sex worker, Jerky Marie Jubelag.
He reportedly admitted he was using shabu but did not admit the crime for which he was nabbed.
A former law student, Porras knows whether he is guilty or not.
Now that he is under police custody, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt until he is proven otherwise.
-o0o-
I sent a small package to Iloilo City in the Philippines from the United States Post Service (USPS) in Jackson Heights in Queens on July 18, 2018 and paid $23.25 for a first-class international service, but, as of this writing, the package has not yet reached its destination.
When I checked the tracking number, I saw a note in the receipt that says: “Tracking unavailable to this destination country. This product does not receive Electronic USPS Delivery Confirmation International (E-USPS DELCON INTL) tracking outside of the United States.”
It added: “All sales final on stamps and postage Refunds for guaranteed services only. Thank you for your business.”
I am hoping that the package will arrive soon and was only delayed.
When I checked the tracking number, I saw a note in the receipt that says: “Tracking unavailable to this destination country. This product does not receive Electronic USPS Delivery Confirmation International (E-USPS DELCON INTL) tracking outside of the United States.”
It added: “All sales final on stamps and postage Refunds for guaranteed services only. Thank you for your business.”
I am hoping that the package will arrive soon and was only delayed.
