“I am returning to the New Government Center with a clean slate, with the last of the 14 cases filed against me for building this edifice already dismissed.” The statement came from Bacolod Rep. and Mayor-elect Evelio Leonardia, during a huddle with reporters Saturday in Bacolod City, a week before he returns to the NGC as the incoming mayor. Leonardia was referring to the dismissal last week by the Regional Trial Court Branch 44 of the civil case against him and other city officials, challenging the legality of the contract for the construction and site development of the NGC. “We can say Divine Justice finally prevailed for us: on the eve of my return, the court throws out the last of the 14 cases,” Leonardia said. This will allow me now to come home to the NGC unencumbered by the legal questions which my political opponent threw at us without let-up in the last eight years, he said. I have always known we were in the right in building this for our people, but yes, it feels good, knowing this has been affirmed by the Ombudsman, the Commission on Audit, and the courts. “We had to face and endure six criminal and six administrative cases filed before the Ombudsman, an audit case before the Commission on Audit and this civil case,” Leonardia said. It was not a smooth ride coming here, he added. “And what an irony it is that the very same Monico Puentevella who was behind all these cases intended to sabotage the NGC, and even had the gall to author the change of its ‘natural born' name to one which our people find totally unacceptable,” Leonardia said. Leonardia returns to the NGC noon of June 30 for a three-year term after he defeated incumbent mayor Monico Puentevella. Leonardia garnered a record 120,231 votes or a lead of 22,238 votes against Puentevella's 97,993 votes. The NGC, which was built in 2007, is one of the major infrastructure projects under the Leonardia administration before he stepped down when he became congressman in 2013. Leonardia said they will conduct a massive clean-up of the government center and its premises when the new set of officials comes in. Meanwhile, incoming officials led by Leonardia and some members of the transition team went around Bacolod City recently for a look-see, ahead of the turnover on June 30. With Leonardia were Congressman-elect Greg Gasataya and Vice Mayor-elect El Cid Familiaran. The group visited the promenade at the Negros Occidental High School, the Bacolod Public Plaza, and several other sites in the city that had deteriorated and need instant reconstruction and refurbishing. They also visited the Diamond Jubilee Memorial Tower at the plaza, which the Leonardia administration built in 2013 to commemorate the city's 75th year. “It is time to return this structure to its original intentions, which was to celebrate the diamond milestone of the city. This is definitely not a structure for hanging tarpaulins or what-not. Let us give this symbol of our creation as a city of dignity and prestige," Leonardia said. The other areas pointed out were the lighting up of the New Government Center back to its original state, the clean-up and rehabilitation of the median islands, as well as strategic sidewalks along 6th street and North Drive and in San Juan street near the San Sebastian Cathedral. The incoming mayor also said that the inspection was part of the preparations for the transition.* Visayan Daily Star
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