GREEN LEGISLATIVE BUILDING. Bacolod City Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez (center), with the members of the City Council, leads the groundbreaking rites for the proposed legislative building adjacent to the Government Center on Monday (Dec. 4, 2023). The PHP515-million four-story structure, which has a green or sustainable design, is expected to be completed in 18 months. (Photo courtesy of Albee Benitez Facebook page)
BACOLOD CITY – A green or sustainable legislative building will rise here by 2025 as part of the crucial infrastructure projects of the city government to boost the delivery of essential services and pump-prime the local economy.
On Monday, Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez led the groundbreaking rites for the PHP515 million four-story structure on a site behind the Bacolod City Government Center.
The Legacy Construction Corp. and the M.K.U. Construction and Supply, in a joint venture, will construct the project with a target completion of 18 months.
“Today marks the start of a new beginning for our City Council as we break ground for the Bacolod legislative building. This is meant to be a space for collaboration, innovation, and positive change for the City of Bacolod,” Benitez said.
He said the offices at the Government Center are now crowded, thus the need to provide additional spaces “for the employees to work better and provide the right service to the people.”
“There are extra offices to accommodate the number of councilors for two districts of Bacolod, if not within this Congress probably, in the next. We are making preparations for such eventuality,” he added.
Aside from the Vice Mayor’s Office and the City Council, the Department of Social Services and Development, Office of the Building Official, Bacolod Housing Authority and City Engineer’s Office (CEO) will also occupy the new building.
CEO officer-in-charge Loben Rafael Ceballos said the building has a green design incorporating sustainability and minimizing effects on the environment.
“It has a provision for solar panels, a rainwater collection system and a sewage treatment plant. A special feature is the column design (on the façade), which has a meaning. It stands for the total number of city officials,” he said.
The legislative building is among the priority projects funded by the PHP4.4-billion local government loan from the Development Bank of the Philippines.
In his State of the City Address to mark his first year in office last July, Benitez emphasized that infrastructure is crucial to the development of Bacolod, and the loan will finance the “golden age of infrastructure” in Bacolod and pump-prime the local economy. (PNA)
