IT’S still four months before the official campaign period starts for the May 2019 elections but the political pot in Mandaue City, especially in the mayoral race between Mayor Luigi Quisumbing and Rep. Jonas Cortes is already boiling. Some radio block timers paid by both camps are already exchanging words on behalf of their patrons.
I read in the local newspapers a paid advertisement by a group that called themselves the Nagkahiusang Nagpakabana nga Mandauehanon (NNM) and Movement for the Restoration of Good Governance (MRGG) questioning Quisumbing’s plan to construct a government center building at the site of the old public market in Barangay Centro. That center will serve as the new City Hall where all departments will hold office. Construction will be financed from a P1.5 billion loan.
The paid ad asked why Quisumbing would insist on that project in exchange for the agony of the taxpayers who will be paying the huge loan. It also claimed the project was the original idea of Cortes during his term as mayor. Cortes’s idea was to build it through public-private partnership (PPP) at no cost to the City Government.
Under the scheme, City Hall offices will be given priority while the other spaces will be rented out to private entities to generate revenues. When the contract expires, the City Government will own the building. Many private contractors showed interest in the project. But this proposal was ignored by Quisumbing, who favored funding through a loan.
According to the paid ad, under the loan agreement, the City Government will pay for the interest and principal amounting to P130 million a year. The total interest will reach to P500 million in 15 years with payment partly coming from the 20 percent of the city’s P120 million Internal Revenue Allotment.
I may be presumptuous but I suspect that the paid ad came from the Cortes camp to discredit Luigi. This could be a counter-attack by the Cortes camp on the issue about the selling of the City Government-owned lot to a private firm at a very low price. Cortes is facing an investigation on this highly questionable deal. The issue was hyped by Quisumbing’s “rah-rah boys” in media. But Cortes is unfazed saying he is confident that he will be eventually cleared of the charges. In fact, this is one of the reasons why Cortes and Quisumbing politically parted ways.
As to the government center. The question is not about the loan. Look at the Province of Cebu, which is the richest province in the country. It applied for loans for the purchase of heavy equipment and the construction of a new building.
Is the construction of the Mandaue center a priority? Can’t the old Mandaue City Hall, called “La Residencia,” accommodate the volume of people transacting business? While embarking on this ambitious project, won’t basic services like garbage collection, peace and order and other needs of the residents be affected?
Kay kung kining nga butanga wa pa mahatagi og pagtagad, morag dili siguro nato unahon kining ambisyosong proyekto. Kay mora ra ni’g nagtukod og dakong balay unya ang mga nagpuyo nangasakit ug gipang-gutom kay wala ma-atiman. Kana maoy huna-hunaa ninyo.