Hilmarcs not favored to construct new city hall--Treñas
Mayor Jerry Treñas debunked claims that the city government's Bids and Awards Committee is favoring Hilmarcs Construction Corporation to be the contractor in the construction of the multi-million new City Hall building.
Treñas said the allegations are baseless even as he clarified that there is no schedule for the bidding yet.
Hilmarcs is the same construction firm that built the new Iloilo Provincial Capitol.
Hilmarcs Construction Corporation also got the contract for the construction of the Bacolod government center which cost P398 million. The construction of the government center was questioned by some Bacolod City officials for alleged "irregularity."
The construction of the new city hall building cost millions of pesos and the local bids and awards committee is bound to observe the Procurement Reform Act of the Philippines.
The mayor said the bids and awards committee has to publish the bidding for the construction of the new city hall building. The publication of the bidding should be made in national newspapers. The rough estimate for the construction of the new city hall building is P329 million.
The city availed of a P350 million from Land Bank of the Philippines and has also set aside P20 million from the collected franchise tax of different companies. The city has a total budget preparation of P370 million.
As to date, only the contract for the design was awarded to W.Coscolluela and Associates. The design alone cost P12,900,000. It includes space planning, interior design and soil testing. They will also hire construction engineers with a corresponding cost P6.5 million.
The chief executive reiterated that the bidding for the construction of the new city hall building will be done above board.