"The opening of SM City is a welcome milestone in the history of Bacolod City," Mayor Evelio Leonardia said yesterday adding that he expects it to bring in more taxes and job opportunities in the city.

SM Bacolod is the third mall of SM Prime Holdings Inc. in the Visayas, the other two being SM City Iloilo, and SM City Cebu.

Leonardia said he believes that the entry of SM City in Bacolod is a validation of the trust and confidence of big business in the city after it was bestowed the title of "The Most Business Friendly City in the Visayas" by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

"If SM founder Henry Sy, the richest man in the Philippines, can trust us with his money, that means Bacolod is in the same league as the other major cities in the country," he said.

Leonardia said that, in the case of SM-Bacolod, he estimates that the city will earn P4 million a year in terms of real property taxes and the gross sales tax is estimated at P7.5 million. "This means that every year we will have additional taxes just from the operation of SM of P11 million," he said.

If it generates the estimated 4,000 jobs, this means an income of P24 million a month or P288 million in a year, based on a conservative salary of P6,000 per employee, Leonardia added.

It is expected that there will be mixed reactions to the entry of SM as it would somehow affect some businesses in the downtown area, he said. But that is one of the consequences of growth and progress, he added.

"Nevertheless," Leonardia said, "In the end, we are hopeful that it will also mean more jobs, more taxes and more resources for the city that will be converted into services for the people."

As mayor of the city, I welcome the entry of SM which I believe will not only change the physical landscape of the city but in so many other ways, will enhance and even revolutionize economic activities in Bacolod, he said.

Leonardia said this comes at the time when they were informed by a very reliable source that the call centers in the city are also picking up or accelerating. So we can project that more than 2,000 will be employed by the call center industry within the middle of this year, he said.

"I believe that, at this time in our history, we are really enjoying a momentum and what is most important is for us to be able to sustain it, and see to it that we are able to have continuity, " Leonardia said.

"We ask our people to be positive thinkers," he said, adding, "We can now see that, indeed, good governance results from a partnership of the leadership and the constituents.*CGS

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