Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella declared during the weekend that he is supporting former Mayor Luzviminda Valdez for mayor in this year's election.

He said he supported Mayor Evelio Leonardia in the last elections but there are certain reasons which made him decide to support Valdez now.

Tell me what has he (Leonardia) accomplished in the last three years, Puentevella asked during a press conference Saturday, as he enumerated the laws he has proposed in Congress, including the holding of the Barangay election in May 2008, and projects he has implemented in the barangays.

Puentevella said because he was accused of trying to sabotage the government center project, he will call for a consultative dialog with the losing bidders and other concerned national offices on Friday.

He said he does not know the complainants in the case seeking the declaration of nullity of the contract between the city and Hilmarc's Construction Corp. except for Mike Carriedo.

Puentevella said he was for the project at the start but he is now questioning the bidding process since only one bidder qualified out of the nine who participated.

If it pushes through now they (referring to the Leonardia administration) are successful and they will win in the elections, he said.

If Valdez wins she will continue the project and it will be open to bidding, he added.

Puentevella said the issues raised against him, which include the controversial information technology package, are smokescreens designed to cover the alleged irregularities involving the government center project.

When informed that City Legal Officer Allan Zamora is mulling the filing of a case against him for 71 counts of violation of the Anti Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, Puentevella said "That is the best move for him to take so if the court dismisses the case, that's it."

Why did he not file it one or two years ago? Puentevella asked. People know that it is election time, he said.

He said the Civil Service Commission has issued a decision that Zamora should not sit as CLO.

Puentevella said on the IT Package issue, DepEd regional director Victoriano Tirol has explained that these are patented multi-media instructional materials. These are equipment that are licensed and warranted, he said.

All these records are public documents including his statement of assets and liabilities for the past six years, he added.*CGS

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