- CHERYL G. CRUZ
Bacolod Mayor Alfredo Benitez said he will resubmit to the Sangguniang Panlungsod his proposal for consultancy agreements with three current officials of the provincial government of Negros Occidental.
“I will resubmit the proposal for consultancy with the three provincial employees (this time) with a concurrence” from Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson, Benitez said in a press conference Thursday at the Bacolod Government Center.
The SP, in its session Wednesday, approved only the consultancy agreement between the city government and Atty. Valerie Ann Hollero, for health insurance and healthcare.
Councilor Al Victor Espino, chairperson of the SP Committee on Laws, Ordinances and Good Government, said it is only Hollero who is not a current employee of another local government unit, while the three others, who offered their services to the city pro bono, are also Capitol officials.
Hollero used to be PhilHealth6 vice president, while Atty. Rayfrando Diaz II is the provincial administrator, Dr. Mary Ann Maestral is chief of the Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital in Silay, and Lucille Gelvolea is the provincial investment officer.
Benitez earlier asked the SP for authority to sign consultancy agreements, with Diaz for administrative matters and systems review, Maestral for health and hospital concerns, and Gelvolea for special projects and economic affairs.
While the SP did not act on Benitez’s proposal for the Capitol executives, Espino said that during his meeting with the executive department Tuesday, it was decided that a memorandum of understanding could be entered into by Bacolod and Negros Occidental, for a wider and institutionalized bilateral relationships.
He said the MOU could include other areas of cooperation, and not just limited to the consultancy services initially sought with the three Capitol officials.
But Benitez said he has a very good working relationship with Lacson, and it does not require any formality. The former was the provincial consultant on economic affairs before the May 9 elections.
The relationship between Bacolod and Negros Occidental now goes beyond documentation or need for formalities, the mayor stressed. “It’s not necessary to put it on paper.”/CGC
