• THERESA MAE DULMAN
Bacolod Councilor Homer Bais’ proposed resolution seeking a Commission on Audit (COA) probe into the delayed Legislative Building project, worth P765 million, failed to survive a vote during the 69th Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) regular session Oct. 27.
Bais said Oct. 28 that despite removing references to fraud from the proposed resolution, the motion was voted down by his colleagues, with only Councilor Wilson Gamboa Jr. voting in favor.
He said he pushed for an audit after a joint committee report revealed significant project delays and a substantial construction slippage exceeding allowable COA thresholds, which he described as a major red-flag.
“For the sake of transparency and accountability, nothing would be lost, and we could clearly protect the city’s funds by recommending a COA audit,” Bais said.
During the session, Councilor Al Espino said that Bais could submit an audit request to COA on a personal level without involving the full legislative body.
Bais countered that he initially sought the SP endorsement out of courtesy, to avoid accusations of political grandstanding.
Per the joint committee report signed by councilors Jude Thaddeus Sayson, Caesar Distrito, and Espino as chairpersons of the SP committees on Appropriations and Finance, on Government Assets, and on Laws, Ordinances and Good Government, respectively, the P765-million Legislative Building project only reached a 45.84 percent loan disbursement utilization rate, with P350.7 million disbursed, as of Sept. 30.
The SP committees were tasked per Resolution 867-2026 to do a comprehensive review, in coordination with concerned offices, of the status of all loans obtained by the Bacolod city government, including the amounts borrowed, released, utilized, and project implementation, and to report to the SP.
The legislative building is funded by the city’s P4.171-billion Development Bank of the Philippines loan facility, secured in 2023 during the term of then Mayor Alfredo Benitez. | TMD
