THE City Council of Bacolod received on June 9 a piece of paper with the names and signatures of 516 persons signifying their opposition to the renaming of the New (Bacolod) Government Center (NGC) to the People’s House of Bacolod (PHOB).
The ordinance that proposed the renaming is authored by Councilor Claudio Jesus Puentevella.
Vice Mayor Greg Gasataya said Thursday the council office received a document and it will be referred to Puentevella being the author of the ordinance.
However, he could not confirm if those people have a group since the document only contained their individual names with signatures but no addresses.
Last month, two fisherfolk groups from Barangay Banago submitted position papers to the SP also opposing the renaming of the NGC.
The Kitahanon Small Fisherfolk Association and the Banago Group of Small Fisherfolk Association said they have accepted, supported, and are proud of the government center project.
“The name government center is associated with the historical structure which is the seat of government of Bacolod City,” the groups said.
The fisherfolk groups added that even if the present administration changed the name of the edifice to People's House, they have continued to refer to it as the NGC.
They hoped that the councilors who are supporting the move to change the name of the NGC can come up with their own projects that will be useful to the people.
Puentevella said Article 21, Section E of the Implementing Rules of the Local Government Code of 1991 that grants the SP of highly-urbanized cities to name any public place or building owned by the city and that taxpayers of Bacolod can rightfully claim that the structure belongs to the people of Bacolod.
“Each city has its own Government Center; we want to have our own identity,” Puentevella said.
He added that naming of the building as the People’s House will instill a sense of ownership, common pride, and enduring identity to Bacolodnons.