Mayor Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez signed his conformity on Monday, April 3, to the Development Bank of the Philippines terms for a P5.5 billion loan to be availed of by the Bacolod City government.
The city government chose DBP because it gave the best rates that are most advantageous to the city government, he said.
It enables the city government to save about P17 million in interest payments annually, the mayor said.
The Bacolod Sangguniang Panlalawigan last week approved a resolution granting Benitez authority to give his conformity to the Term Loan Facilities approved by DBP.
The tentative list of projects covered by loan include a legislative building, five mini hospitals for barangays, lots for various development projects, rehabilitation of the old city hall and public markets, roads , improvement of drainages, and underground cabling, among others.
Benitez said all the projects to be covered by the loan will be submitted to the SP for their scrutiny.
The inclusion of an underground cabling system on the list is achievable as it has already been implemented in Davao and Iloilo cities, he said.
The underground cable system will not be shouldered by the city government per se, it will build the system but telecommunication firms will pay for its cost over time, he said.
It will mean there will be no more spaghetti wires and it will address the problem of cable theft, he said.
The design is being presented to the telecommunication firms and if they agree the city government will come up with a commercial arrangement that will give revenues to the local government, Benitez said.*