“He who does not prevent a crime when he can, encourages it.” –Lucius Annaeus Seneca
The arrest of Iloilo City Planning Development Office administrative assistant Winstone Porras last Friday following a buy-bust operation in Barangay Fatima, located in Iloilo City’s Jaro district, was shocking. He was no ordinary city employee. Porras previously served as youth and political coordinator for former Iloilo City lone district Rep. Rafael Lopez-Vito, chief of staff for former Iloilo City Vice Mayor Victor Facultad, and led city council staffers.
I served as a panelist during the “live” radio debates between Porras and Jed Patrick Mabilog, then a candidate for Iloilo City vice mayor. The former went on to lose both that race and a recent run for barangay captain in Muelle Loney, located in the city’s City Proper district.
When I saw the video of his arrest, I was flabbergasted.
Reports claimed Porras sold a sachet of shabu worth P1,600 to an undercover police officer and was arrested alongside a 24-year-old suspected sex worker named Jerky Marie Jubelag.
He reportedly admitted to using shabu but denied the crime for which he was arrested; a former law student, Porras knows whether he is guilty or not.
With him under police custody, he deserves the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise.
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I became friends with Porras when I covered the Iloilo City Hall beat during the Mayor Mansueto Malabor administration. Always neatly dressed, Porras was a great source of news; he was an outspoken leader for casual employees and fought for their rights and benefits, particularly after salaries and bonuses were delayed.
One of the last Facebook posts he shared before his arrest was an article I wrote entitled “Iloilo Freedom Grandstand perfect!”
I’ve known Porras to be an articulate and effective community organizer, who always held his colleagues to a high esteem; they, in turn, trusted him more than their respective supervisors.
He also earned the respect of some by soliciting their opinion.
Porras once argued a fellow contracted employee should be given the chance to become permanent on the basis of civil service eligibility and an interest to work in the field.
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I sent a small package to Iloilo City via the United States Post Service (USPS) on July 18, 2018 and paid $23.25 for first-class international service, but, as of this writing, the package has yet to reach its destination.
When I checked the tracking number, I saw a note on the receipt, saying, “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.”
The note continued, “All sales final on stamps and postage refunds for guaranteed services only. Thank you for your business.”
I am hoping the package arrives soon and is only delayed./WDJ