Bacolod City Administrator Lorendo Dilag yesterday said he is considering seriously the proposal of Mayor Evelio Leonardia for him to run for councilor in the 2007 elections.

Dilag said he had been councilor of Bacolod City for nine years and he is giving the offer of Leonardia serious thought. However, he said, election is still far and right now they are concentrating on the projects of the city, especially the new government center.

The government center is one of the best legacies Leonardia or any public official can have for the city, Dilag said. The Land Bank of the Philippines has already approved the loan of P400 million for the construction of the project and they are now waiting for the formal documents, he said.

Dilag said the Philippine National Bank will also come up with its offer for the same amount. As suggested by the Mayor, they will submit the two loan offers to the Sangguniang Panlungsod for it to decide which offer will be more advantageous to the city, he said.

Dilag said he will confer with the Gonzaga family, the donors of the 5-hectare lot, on the titling of the property, topography survey of the area and soil boring test, which are necessary preliminaries for the construction of the project. When these are done they will go to the bidding process where all contractors will be invited to submit their proposals, he said.

Dilag said they hope to start the construction of the project before December this year and he will recommend the "design and construct" scheme pursuant to law. He said he believes that the construction of the project will take 18 months.

Dilag said he is confident that the SP will approve the loan proposal. He pointed out that it had unanimously approved the need to construct a new government center and had authorized the Mayor to negotiate for a loan to construct the project.

He said that, while the ceiling is P400 million, the city need not spend the whole amount. The payment of the city to the bank will only depend on how much of the amount will be used for the construction of the project, he said.*CGS

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