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BY MAE SINGUAY
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Monday, October 30, 2017
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BACOLOD City – Mayor Evelio “Bing” Leonardia not only presented the feats of his administration but also criticized the “past administration” – calling it “a political imbroglio” – when he delivered his State of the City Address (SOCA) on Oct. 27.
Part of the 25-page speech that Leonardia delivered read, “Like a phoenix, we are waking up from the stupor of three years, shaking off the ashes and ready to take off as we had taken off years ago, before the three-year political imbroglio that was when the previous administration took over and detoured us from the path of development we had been taking.”
Leonardia delivered his SOCA before members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP), head of government agencies, businessmen, city department heads and officials, families, and friends, among others, at the SP session hall in the Bacolod City Government Center.
Though the mayor did not name whose administration he was referring to, he gave some hints.
“When this administration assumed office last June 30, 2016, the city was operating with an annual budget of P1.8 billion. On record, however, what was left in the General Fund of the Current Accounts to fund the operations of the city was only P39.4 million,” said Leonardia when he discussed fiscal management.
Leonardia assumed office June last year after winning by 22,236 votes against then mayor Monico Puentevella.
“At the same time this amount was to be considered in the light of the P145.6-million unpaid disbursements and obligations which was left by the previous administration,” Leonardia added.
He said such “financial condition was challenging or even problematic.”
But Leonardia, while discussing infrastructure, appealed to all public officials in the city to “set aside political agenda and personal ambitions in the meantime.”
“Let us work for our people first. They are the reason why we are all here. Let us work for our personal ambitions only when election time comes,” he added.
The mayor’s SOCA cited several accomplishments in infrastructure, public employment services, tourism, livelihood, permits and licensing, traffic, peace and order, solid waste management, anti-illegal drug campaign, and education, among others./PN
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