ACTING Bacolod election registrar Ann Janette Lamban said on Friday, April 5, that the office will forward to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Campaign Finance Department the request of Mayor Evelio Leonardia to exempt from the ban the implementation of the city’s priority projects.
“We will submit it to the finance department before the deadline,” Lamban said.
She said it’s just normal to the local government agency to request for an exemption because these were ongoing infrastructure projects.
“(These projects are) part of the program of the city and it’s expected that the Comelec will approve it because (these) are ongoing projects,” she said.
Lamban noted it’s only a formality to inform the Comelec of ongoing projects of the local government unit.
Leonardia earlier requested Comelec to exempt from the ban the implementation of the city’s priority projects.
Leonardia already issued notices to proceed to the winning bidders of the city’s priority projects, except on the proposed construction of Bacolod MassKara Coliseum, where bidding is still ongoing.
The city’s priority projects are the development of Progreso Village Relocation Site worth P350 million; Bacolod City College site development and facilities, P350 million; Bacolod MassKara Coliseum, P800 million; and the construction of roads and bridges, P200 million.
City Assessor Maphilindo Polvora, chairman of Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), earlier said that the winning bidders for the development of Progreso Village Relocation Site, Bacolod City College site development and facilities, and the construction of roads and bridges have already received the notice to proceed, but they also need to secure other documents to start the projects.
Last week, BAC already declared Jejor’s Construction Corp. as the single lowest calculated bidder for the construction of the proposed P800 million Bacolod MassKara Coliseum.