LOCAL officials yesterday formally inaugurated Carcar’s P430-million city hall in Barangay Poblacion 3 to coincide with the City’s 10th Charter Day celebration.
The structure stands on a one-hectare property and is part of the first phase of Carcar City’s New City Center project.
After the New City Center project was conceptualized in 2014, construction started in 2015 after the City secure funds through a loan with the Development Bank of the Philippine (DBP) and also allotted the rest of the funds from the local treasury.
The four-story building has fully-airconditioned offices, elevators, lactating rooms for nursing mothers, a child-minding room, and facilities for persons with disabilities (PWDs), such as ramps and PWD-friendly restrooms.
City officials and employees attended a mass led by Msgr. Carlito Pono of the Archdiocesan Shrine of St. Catherine of Alexandria before the inauguration.
Aside from local officials, also present were Gov. Hilario Davide III, Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale, Rep. Gerald Anthony “Samsam” Gullas (1st district) and members of the Provincial Board.
In his speech, Talisay City Mayor Eduardo Gullas said that praise should be given to the city’s residents, who contributed to turning the once small town into a city.
Michael Dino, Presidential Assistant for the Visayas, believes that the rise of the new city hall means the coming of rapid development.
“I’m looking forward to the next surprise Carcar City will have,” Dino said through his staff Titus Borromeo.
Davide, for his part, said that the new city hall is a good sign that Carcar is heavily investing in infrastructure that benefit its constituents.
Mayor Nicepuro Apura told reporters that construction of the P325-million public market is ongoing.
Aside from a new terminal, Apura said he hopes that his administration can build a sports complex in the new city center before his term ends on 2019.
The proposed sports complex will feature a standard-size oval, Olympic-size swimming pool and a stadium.
Meanwhile, the mayor said he plans to convert the old city hall in Barangay Poblacion 1 into a library or as a temporary building for the Regional and Municipal Trial Courts.