Bacolod City Councilor Wilson Gamboa, Jr. continued to express his opposition to the city government’s plan to borrow a P1.7 billion loan from the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), calling it “highly onerous and grossly disadvantageous.”

He pointed out, the “pro-format contract” presented to the Bacolod City Sangguniang Panlungsod was without a basic feasibility study, which meant information such as interest, terms of payment, modes of payment, manner of payment, penalties, among other criteria were not provided.

The city official added, “with all the blank spaces unfilled” the document was “useless.”

He noted, there were no consultations with other government financial institutions, such as Land Bank of the Philippines or Philippine Veterans Bank, where a lower interest rate could have been sought.

The DBP loan sets interest at the “prevailing rate.”

With the loan expected to fund projects such as the construction of the planned Bacolod MassKara Coliseum, developments for the Progreso Village relocation site and Bacolod City College, and construction and rehabilitation on city roads and bridges, Gamboa said the public is clamoring for a new public hospital, along with the rehabilitation of the city’s major markets./JSG, WDJ