House committee to probe alleged Silay City anomalies

Rep. Stephen Joseph Paduano, who is the designated caretaker of Negros Occidental 3rd district, said that the House Committee on Public Accounts he chairs will investigate the alleged anomalies in the procurement and irregular enactment of local measures by the Silay City government.

In his privilege speech at the House of Representatives, Paduano said it has come to his attention that the Silay City government led by Mayor Joedith Gallego has approved local measures that are allegedly laden with discrepancies, irregularities, and evident partiality.

These acts are particularly concerning, as this involved misuse of public funds that, if not exposed, would cause undue burden and irreparable injury to the constituents of Silay City, the solon added.

Paduano reported that the Silay government, through the initiative of Mayor Gallego, has entered into a loan agreement with the Land Bank of the Philippines (LANDBANK) and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) to fund his administration’s mega-infrastructure project in the aggregate amount of P1.4 billion.

These would finance the repair and rehabilitation of Silay Public Market in the amount of P300 million; P300 million each for the construction of a city college and city coliseum, and P500 million for the construction of a new city hall or city government center.

According to Mayor Gallego, the proposed infrastructure project would benefit Silay, which he described as being “far behind” compared with other local government units in terms of development.

As the city government started the mega-infrastructure project through the enactment of Appropriation Ordinance No. 1 on March 15, 2023, which includes the P300 million repair, rehabilitation and renovation of the City public market, Paduano said he received complaints from vendors, asserting that the local measure did not conform with pertinent rules and settled ordinances of the city.

The Silay City Market Code of 2020, an ordinance previously issued by the Sangguniang Panlungsod, explicitly requires that a strategic development plan, extensive research, situational analysis, and recommendation from the Market Authority must first be secured before entering into a loan for the rehabilitation of the public market, he added.

In response, Mayor Gallego pointed out that the only requirement for a local chief executive to enter into a loan contract is a prior authorization from the Sangguniang Panlungsod.

This is a clear indication of abuse of authority by blatantly disregarding existing local ordinances. Just because you are allowed to do so under the law, does not mean that you should ignore the interests of the people who will be adversely affected by the act, Cong. Paduano said.

Even worse, during the implementation of the project, the city government constructed temporary market stalls within the city’s heritage zones without the approval coming from the city’s heritage district administration office. These zones are designated to preserve the cultural and historical integrity of Silay, Paduano further said.

He also claimed that the construction of P500 million City Hall was anomalous, noting also questionable decisions from the Silay officials.

Paduano also alleged that the submitted proposal by a bidder for the construction of the new City Hall did not conform with the terms of reference set by the city government.

Interestingly, instead of rejecting the proposal outright, the members of the Bids and Awards Committee granted the bidder multiple opportunities to correct its design, the solon said.

This apparent exercise of discretion contravenes the provisions of the Guidelines for the Procurement and Implementation of Contracts for Design and Build Infrastructure Projects of Republic Act No. 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act, Paduano said.

Despite the glaring irregularities in the evaluation process, the Silay City Council gave its approval of allowing the City Mayor to enter into and sign the contract with bidder for P500 million, with the presiding officer, Vice Mayor Thomas Ledesma, as the tie breaker vote, with only six councilors in favor of it.

This act runs contrary to provisions of Article 107 (g) of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the Local Government Code, which provides that “any ordinance or resolution appropriating, authorizing, or directing the payment of money or creating liability requires the affirmative vote of a majority of all the members of the Sanggunian for its passage, he added.

Mayor Gallego could not be reached comments, as of press time.* (NBCG)