The Bacolod City government will resume an aggressive marketing campaign to attract new investments post-COVID era in an effort to see the same level of dynamism of the local economy before the global pandemic came into the fore.
Mayor Evelio Leonardia said the city economy saw its fastest growth ever with over 25,000 business registrants before the health crisis was declared, a press release from the Bacolod Information Office said Sunday, February 6.
For the immediate term, however, we need to see increased government spending in the infrastructure sector to give more jobs and create livelihood opportunities for Bacolodnons as one of the major thrusts of the city’s economic recovery plan, he said.
Some of these local and national government-funded projects worth about P3 billion are already being implemented while others will start shortly, Leonardia said.
The mayor was referring to the new Bacolod City College with an allocation of P350 million; the Bacolod Museum, whose P260 million budget was sourced out by Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri; the continued development of the Bacolod Relocation Site, P350 million; the rehabilitation of the Libertad Public Marker, Burgos Public Market and Central Market with a P150 million appropriation from the Local Government Support Fund facilitated by Budget Secretary Wendell Avisado, and the Bacolod MassKara Coliseum, P800 million, among others, the press release said.
Leonardia’s optimism was shared by Familiaran, concurrent chair of the local IATF, saying that Bacolod’s recovery is imminent especially that the LGU saw a decline in daily COVID cases the last five days.
He expressed hopes that the trend continues.
But Leonardia was quick to remind Bacolodnons that while the cases are decreasing, Bacolodnons should not let their guard down because the COVID crisis is not over yet.
He renewed his call on the unvaccinated to get their jabs and those who had been fully inoculated to avail of booster shots so that they will have protection from the virus.
He also reminded residents to continue observing minimum health protocols.*