  In a version of the 3-3-1 model proposed by Duong and Ma the introduction of
the scalar sextet for giving mass to the charged leptons is avoided by adding a
singlet charged lepton. We show that in this case the $\tau$ lepton gains mass
through a seesaw--like mechanism. Besides we show how to generate neutrino
masses at the tree and at the 1-loop level with the respective
Maki-Nakagawa-Sakata leptonic mixing matrices.
