When Mayor Evelio “Bing” Leonardia returns to private life as "citizen Bing" on Thursday, June 30, he is leaving behind infrastructure projects worth over P1 billion, a press statement from the city government said.
In fact, the total allocation would sum up to over P3 billion as the City Engineers Office (CEO) has yet to include in the project listing the P350 million appropriations for the already completed new Activity Center and buildings at Bacolod City College, it said.
It added that the Leonardia administration is also instrumental in the conceptualization and construction of the P800 million state-of-the-art MassKara Coliseum and museum adjacent which also received P260 million funding support from the national government through the efforts of Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri.
Leonardia, who made history as longest-serving mayor of Bacolod for 18 years, said the infrastructure undertakings for 2021 and early part of 2022 are consistent with the national government's thrust for increased public spending and in synch with outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte's Build Build Build program to cushion the impact of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic and keep the local economy afloat.
"We did our best in response to the national government’s call to provide local employment (and) through these public works initiatives, we are confident that we had served our city and the Bacolodnons well,” the outgoing mayor said, hoping that these will be taken care of.
City Engineer Aladino Agbones said many of these projects were road improvements, road widening, installation of street lights and drainage system, bridge rehabilitation, reblocking, declogging and dredging of canals, building repairs at the old City Hall, barangay health facilities and school facilities, among others.
The CEO report covering January to December 2021 showed that the city government completed 92 projects by administration valued at P111,219,303.66 on top of eight contracted projects worth P92,168,986 or a total of P203,388,289.66.
The completed contracted works included the improvement of the Bacolod City Public Plaza, construction, rehabilitation and improvement of the drainage system in Barangay 40 and Barangay 27, rehabilitation and improvement of the Bacolod City Rizal Park, improvement of public open spaces at the Bacolod City Government Center, improvement of the promenade fronting the Negros Occidental High School, and road construction at Purok Saturn and Sto. No Phase 4 Blocks 1-5, the report added.
Some 38 projects were also implemented by administration from January to February 2022 worth P28,333,930.50 while four others amounting to P69,610,000.00 were contracted during the same period.
Combined total of the January to February 2022 projects summed up to P301,332,220.16.
In March this year, 12 projects worth P23,365,000 have already been completed for the period while 26 others valued at P34,670,580.25 are still on going.
This is on top of the 22 other projects by contract worth P643,365,442.00.
Other big ticket projects are also in the works like the new City Health Office that is being proposed to be built next to the Bacolod City General Hospital inside the Teofilo Gensoli Memorial Medical Center in Barangay Vista Alegre.
The city hospital is mainly funded by the national government. (PR)