Bacolod Councilor Dindo Ramos yesterday said he will file a motion to dismiss the case seeking the declaration of nullity of the contract between the city and Hilmarc's Construction Corp. so the court can render immediate judgment.

The complaint against the Mayor, the members of the Bids and Awards Committee, HCC and the 10 councilors (which include Ramos) who authorized Mayor Evelio Leonardia to enter into an agreement with HCC, was filed individually Friday by Miguel Carriedo, Jesus Lazaro, Ben Solilapsi, Allan Calilan and Abraham Tingson.

In their complaint, the plaintiffs, who are all identified with the KABALAKA group, required a new bidding for the contract and asked that the defendants refund the city whatever amount may have been paid to HCC on account of the said contract.

Ramos said that as soon as he receives a copy of the complaint he will file a motion on the basis that he and other city officials are not the proper parties in interest. He said the contract is between the city, represented by the Mayor, and HCC but the complainants filed a case against personalities who are not parties to the contract.

Ramos said the city is a separate entity from the mayor and the councilors, so the party to the contract is the city government and HCC. He also noted that the complainants did not implead as party defendants the president and the board of directors of HCC.

Ramos said he believes the case will be dismissed, aside from the fact that the complaint has no basis. "They are complaining that there was a flaw in the bidding process but they did not exhaust all administrative remedies, " he said. Under the law, the non-exhaustion of all administrative remedies will lead to the dismissal of the case, he added.

Ramos said the case is politically motivated in order to put them to shame and humiliation. Councilor Jocelle Batapa-Sigue said "We believe in good faith that we have done what is regular under the law."

City Legal Officer Allan Zamora said all the issues they raised were clarified during the Sangguniang Panlungsod hearing on the request of the Mayor for authority to sign the contract.

He said the purpose of the complainants is to prevent the release of the loan proceeds by Land Bank of the Philippines. He said they saw that one of the conditions in the loan agreement is that if a case is filed, LBP will withhold the withdrawal of the loan.

"I don't think the court will nullify the contract on the basis of their claim or allegation," Zamora said. "This is the only project of the city that went through the eye of the needle before the contract was ratified," he added.

Zamora said whether the case has any merit or not, the judge will take cognizance of it and issue summons for the defendants to answer the complaint. He said he will represent the Mayor and the members of the BAC, but he cannot assume that he will be representing the members of the SP since there were some councilors who withdrew their concurrence on his appointment.

The case was raffled off to RTC Branch 44 under Judge Rodney Bolunia.

Meanwhile, Rolando Villamor, counsel of the plaintiffs, said he did not file a temporary restraining order against the construction of the government center but if the city officials continue the project and the contract will be nullified, that is their problem.

Villamor said when the city proposed the government center built in Taculing he was against it. He said he was in favor of the property in Brgy. Mansilingan, which former Councilor Juan Ramon Guanzon offered to donate to the city government, because the area can become a new growth center for the city.

Villamor is a resident of Mansilingan and reportedly owns a property near the offered site. He said he officially wrote LBP Monday and yesterday informing them about the case.

On the other hand, Zamora said the unsigned complaint of the Citizens Movement for Good Governance filed before the Office of the Ombudsman regarding the project is totally baseless and grounded more on malicious speculations.

He said the complainants did not attach a single piece of evidence to back their claims so he asked that the complaint be set aside and denied consideration by the Ombudsman.

The complainants questioned whether the procedures and laws governing the approval of the loan were violated, and whether the repayment of the loan would affect the fiscal position of the city and delivery of basic services.*CGS

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