A special session will be held at 1:30 p.m. today on the request of Bacolod Mayor Monico Puentevella for authority for him to sign the contract with Enviroking Corp. for the hauling of garbage in Bacolod City.
Bacolod Councilor Em Ang said the Sangguniang Panlungsod did not act on the request during their session yesterday after Councilor Caesar Distrito pointed out that the copy of the memorandum of agreement between the city and Enviroking Corp. was only submitted to them noontime yesterday so they did not have time to study and scrutinize its content. Ang said Councilor Archie Baribar wanted the SP to act on the matter since the contract of Enviroking Corp. starts on March 1 and he was concerned that garbage may not be collected. The deliberation lasted for about 30 minutes because Baribar wanted to also include the ratification of the contract when they had not yet received a request, she said. Ang said they only received a copy of the MOA at about 11 a.m. yesterday and it was not stated in the contract how much Enviroking Corp. will be charging for garbage collection. What they are approving is an authority to sign in favor of the city and their function is to provide check-and-balance, and to make sure to scrutinize the content of the contract, she said. It does not mean they are objecting or not approving the request. They just want the SP members to be given time to read and scrutinize the contract, Ang said. She recalled that Distrito had called for a public hearing and submitted a committee report before they authorized former Mayor and now Bacolod Rep. Evelio Leonardia to sign the contract with Metrowaste Solidwaste Management. But Baribar said they do not have enough time since the contract of Enviroking starts on March 1 while the contract of Metrowaste with the city ends tomorrow, she said. Councilor El Cid Familiaran pointed out that Enviroking charges P89,970,000 which is less by P30,000 than Metro Waste Solid Management Corp., which cost the city P90 million. Distrito said that it took them another week to ratify the contract of Metrowaste after they conducted a committee hearing and authorized the former Mayor to sign the MOA with the contractor. He said a representative of the BAC told them that the Mayor has the power to extend the contract of Metrowaste in the exigency of the service. It is their duty to scrutinize the contract and they want to exercise their function especially that this contract involves P90 million of people’s money, he added. Distrito said “If the majority will force us to act on it, that is a violation of the rights of the minority.” They want to provide check-and-balance so, “Let us review it well and afterwards let us make an informed decision after we hear from our resource speakers,” he said.*CGS BY CHRYSEE SAMILLANO Visayan Daily Star
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