MAYOR Belen Fernandez decried as fake news the report being peddled by the camp of Vice Mayor Marc Brian Lim that Dagupan will borrow up P2 billion for the transfer of the new city hall on a donated land along the newly designated Pantal-Lucao growth center.

Fernandez said the city government will only borrow P590-M, the amount authorized by the city council for her to negotiate for a loan with a reputable financial institution.

Both Lim and minority floor leader Councilor Redford Erfe-Mejia were out of the country when the city council approved the resolution authorizing her to negotiate for a P590 million loan.

Lim and Erfe-Mejia had opposed the transfer of city hall to Barangay Pantal but whose views were rejected by in the series of public consultations in the city.

Fernandez said only P570 million will be spent for the construction of the city hall, including its air-conditioning system, mechanical elevators, plumbing system and other furnishings, and Php 20 million will be spent for e-government system integrated to the construction that would link city hall to the 31 barangays in the city.

“Actually, I foresee that the P570-M loan will not all be used because there is no overpricing unlike what the previous administration did, and every single centavo of that loan will be accounted for,” Fernandez told newsmen.

She said the Bureau of Local Government Finance of the Department of Finance has certified that with its projected income of Php948 million in 2018, Dagupan City can borrow as much as P886 million.

She recalled that former Mayor Benjamin Lim in 2004, the city borrowed close to P300 million for the construction of the Malimgas Public Market when its annual budget that time was only P345-M.

The construction of the new government center is already expected shortly using the P119 million realized by the city for the sale of the former MC Adore Hotel.

Meanwhile, Fourth District Rep. Christopher de Venecia has secured the release of P75 million from the Department of Public Works and Highways for the construction of a road road leading to the site of the proposed city hall.

City Budget Officer Luz de Guzman also called out as fake news the claim of critics that when the city government will increase taxes to help pay the loan.

De Guzman said the slight increase in taxes of real properties was approved by the city council based on the local government code that mandates an increase every 5 years. (Leonardo Micua)

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments