• CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez bared his vision for Bacolod, the accomplishments of his administration, as well as several proposed infrastructure projects they plan to implement, including those to be funded under the P4.4 billion loan they are negotiating with a bank, during his first State of the City Address (SOCA) at the Bacolod City Government Center Wednesday.
In his 16-page report, which he delivered in English and Ilonggo, Benitez said that his first order of business after he assumed office was the establishment of the Good Governance Committee to improve the procurement process in City Hall. Because they ensured competitive bidding in supplies and services, they were able to save about P43 million.
He also reported that the Office of the Building Official (OBO) was the first to adopt the Integrated Business Permits and Licensing System of the DICT for the application of building permit or certificate of occupancy. As a result, its collection increased from P48.27 million covering the period July 2021 to June 2023, to P55.76 million.
To bring services closer to business owners, they have launched a permanent Bacolod Express Service Online at SM Bacolod (or at the 13th SM Government Service Express center). They are also setting up another BESO at the Ayala Malls Capitol Central, the mayor said, adding that Bacolod City is the first in Western Visayas to adopt the Palengke-QR Program of the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas and Department of the Interior and Local Government.
Benitez also said that crucial to the development of Bacolod City are good infrastructures. They are negotiating a P4.4 billion loan with the Development Bank of the Philippines to finance this golden age of infrastructure in the city and pump-prime its economy.
This includes the construction, improvement or rehabilitation of roads, public markets, super health centers, a recycling center, solar power generation facility, and government buildings, he said.
The innovations they are implementing to enhance economic governance and fiscal management are drawing strong interest, support and assistance from the private sector, Benitez said.
He reported that there is an initial proposal of P4.5 billion for the rehabilitation of the Manokan Country to promote food tourism. There is also a proposal to fund underground cabling for an initial cost of P200 million.
The mayor said they are also committed to promote green development which means investing in renewable energy development. “Because of our intervention with coal power plants, the cost of electricity reduced by P3 per kilowatt hour.”
On garbage collection, they have shifted from fixed-fee to weight-base billing in garbage hauling services with IPM-CDC. We used to be paying P16.5 million per month for garbage collected by IPM. But now, we paid P14.87 million for the month of May, which means a 10 percent savings. They also have a master plan for a Bacolod Integrated Recycling and Technology Hub adjacent to the city’s sanitary landfill, under a PPP scheme Benitez said.
He also commended the Bacolod Police under City Director Col. Noel Alino for the reduction of crime incidence in the city from 1,463 (July 2021-June 2022) to 1,277 (July 2022 -June 2023), and for being adjudged the Best City Police Station in Region 6.
Benitez also urged the City Council to reconstitute the Bacolod Traffic Authority Office into a full-fledge department with bigger staff and bigger budget to address the city’s growing traffic problem in the city.
He also stressed that Bacolod City is the first local government in the country to implement the Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Program (4PH) through a joint venture with Scheirman Construction which has started to build the first building of the Yuhum Housing at the Arao relocation site.
“We aim to build 10,000 units through this joint venture, with a total investment from Scheirman of P10 billion,” he added.
Benitez also said Bacolod has 16,157 cardholders of the Bacolod Comprehensive Health program (BacCHP), which was the centerpiece of his campaign and administration. They are targeting to enroll 70,000 more household heads, or at least 50 percent of the total families in Bacolod.
They have partnered with two hospitals, the Metro Bacolod Hospital and Medical Center, and the South Bacolod General Hospital and Medical Center. He has requested the City Council to grant him the authority to sign an agreement with Riverside Medical Center, he said.
To decongest major hospitals in Bacolod, they will be putting up “mini hospitals” in the city. They are also planning to establish five Super Health Centers within Barangays 12, Alijis, Cabug, Mandalagan, and Vista Alegre, with an allocation of P135 million from the DBP loan. They are also allocating P220 million for the improvement of the City Health Complex, Benitez said.
They will also strengthen linkages among the city government, higher education and technical and vocation education institutions, and industry associations to craft workforce development plans to support various industries, particularly the IT-BPO industry, he said.
Meanwhile, Benitez said the success of the MassKara Festival in 2022 has been unprecedented. Local tourist arrivals for the festival were 74,000, or a 3 percent increase from 2019. The Chicken Inasal Festival from May 26 to 28 generated P2 million in sales from an estimated 10,000 to 13,000 people who visited.
The MICE sector has also recovered and that Bacolod is hosting two to three conventions per month since April. For the first quarter, local tourist arrivals at 177,298 have exceeded the pre-pandemic figure of 171,674 in the same period of 2019, he said.
Data from the City Treasurer’s Office shows that local revenues for the first quarter of 2023 amounted to 1.08 billion, or a 24 percent increase in tax collection compared to the same period last year. Reports generated from the Business Permits and Licensing Office and MITCS also shows that gross reported sales of registered business in Bacolod increased by 35.31 percent from a pre-pandemic figure of 87.78 billion (July 2018 to June 2019) to post-pandemic gross sales of 118.78 billion (July 2022 to June 2023). Business renewal increased by 6.41 percent and business expansion increased by 57.38 percent for the same period, Benitez said.
“We may be seeing a golden age of construction in Bacolod City. Applications for locational clearance cover a total of 94 hectares (July 2022 to June 2023). With an estimated aggregate cost of P2.7 billion – 80 hectares of this belongs to Megaworld The Upper East, Rockwell, and SM at BREDCO,” he said.
Benitez said they are also planning to develop the old Bacolod Airport, while the Bacolod Coastal Road being pushed by Bacolod Rep. Greg Gasataya, which will start from the Banago Port and stretch 41.44 kilometers up to Victorias, will help decongest the Bacolod North Road and mitigate flooding in the city’s coastal barangays.
On the other hand, Benitez said there are those asking “Diin si Albee? Ngaa wala si Albee” (Where is Albee? Why is he not here?)
He said “Let the investments we bring back to Bacolod be the answer to their question. We were lucky to be invited to join the state visits of the President to China and Japan. We were given the opportunity to pitch Bacolod as an investment destination to foreign investors. Let the jobs these new developments create be the answer to their questions.”
The mayor also expressed his gratitude to the cooperation of the City Council led by Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran for the outstanding record of 39 city ordinances, 10 appropriation ordinances, and 1,484 resolutions.
“The state of the city is strong – and it will be stronger,” he said adding that “the best is yet to come.”*
