Vice Mayor Glenn Bercede | Mary Rose Sagarino
MANDAUE CITY, Philippines — Acting Mandaue City Mayor Glenn Bercede has defended the city’s P3 billion Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) loan to finance the one-stop-shop government center.
Bercede said that the city would need a new and bigger city hall that could house all the government offices for more easier and accessible services for Mandauehanons.
Bercede explained that the building would not only be entirely for local government offices, as some space would also be rented.
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There will be establishments that will be for lease for national agencies and commercial purposes. A convention center will also be constructed that will also be for rent.
The governement center will be built at the former Cebu International Convention Center site. The groundbreaking was held last August 29.
Bercede said that if the city would enter into a Public-Private Partnership, the private sector would have a bigger share of control because they would fund the construction.
“Dili ta kabuot ana (PPP) 100 percent, sila ang magbuot kaysa kita motukod bisan unsa atoang ibutang nga maka-income sa siyudad nga para atoang ibayad sa utang,” said Bercede.
(We cannot force them with that (PPP) 100 percent, they will be the ones to decide even with what we will put in there to make an income for the city that we can put there to pay for our loan.)
How to pay the P3B Mandaue loan
Bercede said that the city could pay the loan and not compromise other services. Paying the loan through the revenue generated.
“Macover ra up ra (utang). Daghan gyud kaayo ang (ni-express) moabang, so maka-income, ang kanang income mao nay ibayad nato sa utang. Duha ang igo ba, naka-opisina pa ta, makabayad pa ta sa utang,” Bercede said.
(It can cover the (loan). Many have expressed their desire to rent, so we can have income, that income that is the one that we will use to pay the loan. We hit two areas, we can have an office, we can also pay our loan.)
On Wednesday, September 4, members of the Save Mandaue Coalition (SMC) held a press conference expressing their strong objection of the loan, suggesting PPP which they claim would come at no cost to the city, would avoid burdening taxpayers, and help foster economic growth.
They are concerned about the financial impact of the loan that might affect the government’s services.
They believed that instead of investing in a new facility, the administration should address first the pressing issues such as addressing flood problems, COA redflags based on the use of public funds, assisting fire victims, improving healthcare and school buildings.
Budget for all services
City Councilor Marie Immaline Cortes-Zafra, who chairs the committee on Budget and Finance and the vice chariman of the Committee on Health, said that the city had allocated a budget for each services such as health.
“The budget of the city and any other LGU is not unlimited, so we have to balance it out to all the other services. Tanan services priority sa city. Gitagaan gyud na og certain budget,” Cortes-Zafra said.
(The budget of the city and any other LGU is not unlimited, so we have to balance it out to all the other servives. All services are the city’s priority. They already have a certain budget.)
“Dili na pasabot nga just because naa tay government center, gibiyaan na nato ang uban like health. Dili na ingun ana. As we will be building unya sa government center moving, forward tanan’g services nag-abante sad na siya, walay gibiyaan. Gipadayon na nato tanan, patas tanan,” she said.
(It does not mean that just because we have a government center, we will leave other services like health. It is not like that. As we will be building later the government center, moving forward, all services will move forward also, nobody is left behind. We continued all of that, all are equal.)
Acting Mayor Bercede also questioned the timing of the coalition’s action as it had been a while that the city expressed to build a government center and to borrow P3 billion to fund the building.
He believed that it might be politically motivated
SMC has already claimed that their objection has nothing to do with politcs and that the group was created to give a solution for their concerns.
Despite this, Bercede said he would be open for a dialogue with the members of SMC.