Dumaguete City Vice Mayor Alan Gel Cordova on Thursday expressed his disappointment with the Mayor’s construction of the baywalk project without having consulted with the City Council.
The baywalk project, which extends the northern walking section of the Rizal Boulevard to the tune of P4.5 million, is being implemented by the City Engineer’s Office.
In last week’s regular City Council session, Cordova expressed his sentiments three times during the Question Hour with City Engineer Edwin Quirit.
Quirit said the funds of the bay walk project do not come from the local fund or appropriation from the city government which was why, Quirit explained, the proposal did not pass the council.
Cordova lamented the lack of consultation by the City Mayor regarding this particular project. “Is it the position of the executive department that this body is no longer important or it is no longer necessary to inform this body of the plans just because the money comes from the national coffers?” Cordova said.
The said project took its initial funding from the Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF) of Senators Pangilinan, Zubiri, Guingona, Revilla amounting to 4.5 million implemented by the DPWH Negros Oriental 2 Engineering District; and from the PDAF of Senators Recto, Villar, and Sotto which was implemented and to be implemented the City Engineer’s Office.
Quirit on the other hand, explained that when the City Engineer’s Office introduced the idea to Mayor Manuel ‘Chiquiting’ Sagarbarria, he was immediately convinced of the importance of the project. However, the city did not have the money to fund the project. Thus, Quirit and Sagarbarria went to Manila along with City Legal Officer Neil Ray Lagahit to ask some funding assistance from the senators.
He further asked, “Is it the policy now of the administration that the city council is not to be informed of what’s going on in our very own city that we are representing here?”
Quirit said the bay walk project aims to reinforce the existing shore protection that protects the Dumaguete port road from further deterioration, to safeguard the driving public from the splashing of waves that might lead to vehicular accidents, and to shield the Silliman Gate of Opportunity from the intrusion of sea water caused by severe wave actions on certain times of the year. (Hyacinth Ann D. Antonio/ SU Masscom)