Consolacion mayoral bets disagree on P144M project

Even as work on the P144 million town hall building of Consolacion town  has already started, rivals in the  mayoral race still disagree on the project’s use.

Mayoral candidate Avelino Gungob said that if he wins, he will not use the building as the seat of the municipal government   but use it for commercial purposes.

Incumbent Mayor Teresa Alegado says whoever wins in the May 13 polls will not have a choice but to use  the 6-storey building  its construction is based on a municipal ordinance.

“The project was done based on an ordinance and it is not just a personal project of Alegado. Bisan dili nako mahimong mayor, simbako, ang project kay sigorado kung mapadayon,” Alegado told Cebu Daily News.

(Even in the event that I will not get reelected, God forbid, the project will proceed.)

The municipal government of Consolacion town took out a 15-year loan from the Development Bank of the Philippines for the project.

Payment for the loan will primarily come from the town’s Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA).

But Gungob, a former mayor said be will not use the P144 million building as a government center.

Its location right in the Cebu North Road would cause heavy traffic, he said.

Instead, he would rather pursue his plan in 2009, to develop a property in barangay Laray for the new town hall.

In order not to waste the money being spent for the building, Gungob told CDN that the building will be turned into a public commercial building which will sell locally produced products.

Consolacion is one of the most progressive towns in Metro Cebu. Recently, SM opened its second mall in Cebu in the town. /Jucell Marie P. Cuyos, Reporter