By Glazyl Y. Masculino
BACOLOD CITY – The city government plans to repurpose the PHP 525-million loan initially intended for the rehabilitation of the Burgos Public Market to cover additional costs for ongoing projects.
In a press briefing on Monday, Mayor Alfredo “Albee” Benitez said the amount comes from the city’s PHP 4.4 billion loan approved by the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP).
“We all know what happened to our initial plan of making an iconic market,” Benitez said, referring to the vendors’ opposition due to concerns over their livelihoods.
The project did not proceed as the vendors expressed that they were not ready for a major renovation, citing that the market had already undergone rehabilitation under the previous administration.
Benitez sent a letter to the City Council requesting the passage of a resolution granting him authority to negotiate and enter into an agreement with DBP for the completion of the legislative building, Old City Hall, City Health Complex, and the tree park in Barangay Alangilan, as well as the construction of an animal shelter.
The letter outlined that the loan would cover additional costs for these projects.
The PHP 525-million loan would allocate PHP 250 million for the legislative building, initially budgeted at PHP 515 million; PHP 190 million for the Old City Hall, originally funded at PHP 223 million; PHP 60 million for the City Health Complex, initially allocated PHP 220 million; and PHP 15 million for the tree park, which had an initial budget of PHP 47 million.
The realignment also includes PHP 10 million for the construction of an animal shelter.
Benitez said the City Veterinary Office (CVO) proposed building an animal shelter on a one-hectare lot in Barangay Granada that could house up to 1,000 stray animals.
Currently, the existing dog pound is small, prompting the need for a larger facility. The CVO plans to accommodate more stray dogs and avoid euthanizing those that are not adopted after three days.
“We need a bigger dog pound,” he said.
