THE City Legal Office has submitted partial documents attesting that certain contractors of the Brian Lim administration from 2019 to 2022 had defaulted or abandoned their projects before completion, while some were found to be substandard.

Councilor and Floor Leader Michael Fernandez said City Legal Officer Aurora Valle promised to complete the documents needed during the next hearing of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) committees on public works and infrastructures, headed by Councilor Karlos Reyna, on laws, ordinances and judiciary, headed by Councilor Jose Netu Tamayo, and on Market chaired by Councilor Jeslito Seen.

The move is in connection with Draft Resolution No. R-012- 2025, urging the City Legal Officer to file the appropriate cases in court against contractors who willfully abandoned or neglected the completion of city government-funded projects, and declaring that contractors who claim bankruptcy are unacceptable under existing laws.

Valle has so far submitted complete documents relative to the three projects at the Malimgas Public Market, and an upgrading of PCC pavement and construction of drainage along Zamora Street, which was already observed to be badly scaling in July 2022 when Mayor Belen Fernandez just assumed anew as city mayor; and the purchase of some P14 million worth of CCTV cameras that were defective and ended up being unused.

Valle said among the documents she submitted were demand letters sent by the City Engineering Department to the contractors and her own letters to them as well as to their insurers or bondsmen, which were merely ignored by the parties.

The proposed resolution states that certain contractors, despite being awarded and funded for projects, willfully abandoned or failed to complete their deliverables, thereby prejudicing the city government and delaying vital services to the public.

It also states that invoking bankruptcy or financial incapacity – as one contractor has done – as a justification for such abandonment or neglect of projects is not a valid excuse under prevailing laws, particularly in public contracts, where due diligence and financial capability are prerequisites for qualification and award of the project.

During the September 12 hearing on the proposed resolution, Valle asked the SP to appropriate funds for court filing fees, which are not covered under the 2025 annual budget.

Fernandez, along with Councilors Karlos Reyna, Tamayo and Vice Mayor Bryan Kua, recently visited the uncompleted projects awarded during the past Lim administration, which residents and other stakeholders have pointed to and complained about. (Leonardo Micua) 

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