Compromise deal between city and Ceneco under SP review
BACOLOD CITY -- City Legal Officer Atty. Allan Zamora confirmed yesterday that they had already endorsed to the Sangguniang Panglungsod (SP) the request of Mayor Evelio Leonardia to sign the compromise agreement between the City of Bacolod and the Central Negros Electric Cooperative (Ceneco) relative to the settlement of unpaid accounts and franchise taxes.
Zamora said the SP has not yet extended any authority to the Local Chief Executive to sign the documents and they are still awaiting the authority to sign from the Council.
As embodied in the compromise agreement, it is stipulated that the City of Bacolod had a principal account with Ceneco for the period of July 2007 to June 2008 amounting to P33,171,771 subject to verification and reconciliation.
The deal also provides that without prejudice to verification and reconciliation, the City will pay Ceneco the said account of P33,171,771 in eighteen equal monthly payments. Ceneco thru its lawyer Atty. Joel Dojillo confirmed that under this agreement the first payment shall be paid by the plaintiff on or before the end of January 2009 and on or before the end of each month thereafter until the said account shall have been fully paid.
Under this agreement, the city will pay Ceneco all its current accounts starting July 2008 and thereafter. And also, fifty percent of the payments by the city of the subject account will be utilized by the Ceneco in the electrification of areas in the City of Bacolod to be identified by the Local Chief Executive as priority areas.
If the SP will act on it in next regular session, it is embodied that "the payment of the account of the City with Ceneco prior to July 2007 and the payment by Ceneco of its franchise taxes until year 2005 shall be held in abeyance until the issue on what constitute gross receipts as basis for the computation of the said franchise taxes shall have been resolved by a court of competent jurisdiction."