Abellera in his privileged speech during the regular session of the city council on Tuesday (August 1) said that as a member of the City Council and was elected by the people, it is his duty to participate in the session.
“Today, I stand fueled with frustration and disappointment. I experienced a grave injustice that left me feeling utterly disrespected,” Abellera said.
He believes that SOCA serves as a platform for the Chief Executive to report the administration’s achievements and outline the vision for the city’s progress in the forthcoming years.
“The SOCA is a momentous event, where different personalities from the different sectors of the city were present."
However, according to Abellera, he was unjustly barred from entering the said occasion.
“Despite my rightful presence as an elected councilor, I was not permitted to enter the session hall,” he said.
“ Let me be clear. I was present at the venue . I arrived early with the intention of actively engaging in this official function.But to my dismay , when I approached the registration table, I found out that my name was not on the list of attendees allowed to enter the session hall.” Abellera further said.
Abellera is the only councilor who was not included in the list of SOCA attendees.
“This reinforces the notion that my exclusion was not an oversight , but a deliberate decision that spoke volumes about how I am being treated in this council.
“My steemed colleague , I want to emphasize that my absence from the SOCA was not due to any lack of interest or sense of responsibility,” he said.
Abellera said this is not the first time that similar incident happened to him. In fact, he said there were instances that he was excluded from official and social functions.
Abellera said he was the only city councilor who was not given a committee chairmanship or even a membership.
“It is as if my voice and contributions are deemed unimportant in this council. For the entire 10 years that I was elected councilor under different administrations, I cannot remember any circumstance where a councilor was not assigned any committee chairmanship or membership, even those who were in the opposition then. Ako pa, nga dili man gani ko opposition,” he said.
“Despite not receiving the same perks as my fellow councilors, I remain steadfast in fulfilling my duties diligently,” he said.
Abellera assures that despite these incidents, he will continue to support the administration as long as it benefits the people.
“ I am committed to the success of our term because, ultimately, I was elected to serve the interests of the general public, but this will be difficult when this is how I’m treated,” he said.
Councilor Nilo Abellera Jr.