Leonardia: Without the loan, the people will ‘lose something’
By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia addressed the temporary restraining order sought against the P1.7 billion loan the city government plans to borrow from the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), saying, the matter is being handled by his legal team.
During a press conference yesterday, he called the request for a restraining order “sabotage,” noting, opposition to his administration previously conducted similar acts with the proposed construction of the Bacolod City Government Center, among other projects.
“Because of what they are doing, who do you think will be affected?” the mayor asked. “It is the people that will lose something if this is not pursued.”
He called the loan a “brilliant opportunity” and said they are “morally obliged” to borrow the amount.
Bacolod City mayoral candidate, former Bacolod City Councilor Jocelle Batapa-Sigue; candidate for Bacolod City vice mayor, former Vice Mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson; and businessman Antonio Wong filed a restraining order before the Bacolod City Regional Trial Court earlier this month.
The group’s legal counsel, Atty. Cesar Beloria, Jr., explained the civil case concerns city officials who pushed for the loan before the Sangguniang Panlungsod and officials from the DBP.
He explained, during the hearings conducted last November pertaining to the loan, only a select group of individuals were invited to attend, namely city department heads, city employees, and barangay officials said to be political allies of Leonardia.
“There was no publication or information of this very important affair – not a single invitation addressed to the public,” Beloria declared.
Batapa-Sigue, meanwhile, said, “as a private citizen,” she would trust the legal process.
She went on to explain the loan has become an issue with the public and the media.
“We have nothing else to do but to escalate this before the courts on behalf of the citizens of Bacolod that are asking for time to take a close look of the transaction,” she said.
She added, the loan has many procedural flaws and, as leaders of the city, they cannot brush aside procedure.
“In the interest of transparency, we are here to announce that there is such a case and we reserve all other opinions,” she added./DGB, WDJ
