Three committees of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) clarified that the actual contract price of the Bacolod City Legislative Building is only ₱514.675 million, refuting claims that the project already costs ₱764 million or over ₱1 billion.
In their Second Partial Joint Committee Report, Councilor Thaddy Sayson, chairperson of the Committee on Appropriations and Finance, explained that the additional ₱250 million often cited is a separate proposed completion component. This phase is still undergoing processing and has not yet been opened for bidding.
“The claim that the construction cost of the legislative building exceeds ₱1 billion is fake news,” Sayson said in a press release Friday, Nov. 6.
“The original contract stands at only ₱514.675 million. The additional ₱250 million has not gone through bidding yet. If implemented, it will serve as the second phase, bringing the total project cost to just ₱764.675 million”, he said.
Meanwhile, Councilor Caesar Distrito, chairperson of the Committee on Government Assets, disclosed that the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) has released only ₱350.653 million out of the original project allocation. He emphasized that loan releases from the bank do not automatically equate to payments made to the contractor.
“The contractor cannot simply collect the full amount from the bank. Disbursement is done through percentage-based or partial collections,” Distrito said.
“The contractor submits a partial billing, which is then verified for accuracy before the bank releases the funds. Based on DBP’s official certification, only ₱350 million has been released out of the ₱514 million contract price. Furthermore, the floor area of the new legislative building is significantly larger than the Bacolod City Government Center (BCGC), which was built nearly 20 years ago”, he said.
Councilor Al Victor Espino, chairperson of the Committee on Laws, Ordinances, and Good Government, noted that claims made by the contractor regarding the building’s completion progress must still undergo rigorous technical verification.
“The contractor submitted a report stating that the Legislative Building is nearing completion, but this remains subject to evaluation by an engineering team from the City Engineer’s Office. It will also be independently verified by DBP technical experts,” Espino stressed.
“We cannot accept the contractor’s accomplishment report without proper validation.”
The three committee chairs reiterated that the public deserves accurate information grounded in official contracts, DBP certifications, and verified engineering reports, rather than misleading statements designed to spark public controversy, the press release said.*
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