BAGUIO City Mayor Benjamin Magalong told the City Council to decide on the public market so the city can pursue other options or move on to other measures.
Magalong recommended a public-private partnership (PPP) agreement for the market development as the City will not spend on development and at the same time, earn from the proposed deal.
The mayor said the PPP assures protection of the interest of market vendors accommodating 4,000 sellers, including those displaced and night market.
After facing the City Council on Monday, Magalong made an appeal to the councilors.
"If you feel, we don't have to go through with the PPP, sabihin ninyo para di na nag hihirap ang P4 Committee and as good soldiers, we will heed the decision of the council so we can move on and find other ways (for the city market)," he said.
Magalong likewise advised the City Council to decide on its own.
"The reason why we are not very aggressive in recommending the PPP modality is because we are giving the Public-Private Partnership for the People (P4) Selection Committee independence and that we don't want to influence you," he said.
Councilor Fred Bagbagen, during the hearing about the market redevelopment, encouraged other members of the City Council to make independent decisions regarding the multi-billion project and to refrain from solely relying on the recommendations of the executive body.
"We should not solely depend on the executive body's recommendation but, instead, on what we (legislative body) believe is for the intent of the City of Baguio," Bagbagen said.
Bagbagen deemed it wise to pay attention first to the "general concept" before nitpicking the specifics.
"We are being bogged down by details. If we go into details immediately, we will not be able to move forward. Let us first look at the general concept then decide if we agree with the PPP modality. This is not an end-all agreement right now after all. In fact, we will be given time anyway to re-study the details of these proposals," Bagbagen said.
The councilor said now is the opportune time for the current administration to leave a legacy for the City of Baguio as it decides on the fate of the public market.
"Time is of the essence. This is very urgent. It has been two years and we have not accomplished anything yet. We should not be passing this on to the next administration," Bagbagen added.
City Administrator Boni Dela Peña said both SM Prime Holdings Incorporated and Robinsons Corporation have qualified for the PPP deal now being pursued by the city.
Local bidder, the market cooperative, was able to give their proposal but was disqualified due to lacking legal papers.
Both mall giants pegged development cost of the public market at P5 billion to 6 billion range.
Dela Peña said though the local market cooperative gave a proposal in the range of P2.5 billion to P3 billion, legalities of the organization were in question, adding the proposal of the cooperative gave only rental costs for vendors as a source of income, lacking commercial value as opposed to proposals of the two mall chains.
The city administrator said the city opted to turn to a PPP deal instead of shouldering the cost on its own and taking out a loan.
All of these will be evaluated by the city's P4 Selection Committee headed Dela Peña, City Budget Officer Leticia Clemente and a technical working group on market development. (With reports from City Hall SP)