After the Bacolod City Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) earlier approved a proposed memorandum of agreement extending a contract allowing the Bacolod Real Estate Development Corporation (Bredco) to continue operating a port in the city for another 25 years after agreeing to a P6 million annual compensation for the city, Bacolod City Councilor Ricardo Tan called it a “measly” amount.

“P6 million is peanuts,” he said. “A figure arrived at after plucking it from nowhere.”

Tan, who voted against the measure alongside City Councilor Claudio Jesus ‘Kalaw’ Puentevella, called the agreement “highly anomalous” and said the SP “rushed” an important and crucial contract.

Earlier, City Councilor Caesar Distrito said the final amount was “an 800 percent increase” on Bredco’s initial proposal of P800,000.

“The city spent nothing on [the port],” he said. “In this case, there [was] no loan or government funds used, instead, the city will even earn and get compensation.”

In addition, the agreement entitles the city to an upward adjustment of around P48,000.

Meanwhile, Bredco vowed to make the port a “world class facility.”/DGB, WDJ