Boholst returns as advisor

MORE than a year after he resigned as city administrator, lawyer Briccio Boholst will return to Mandaue City Hall.

This time, he’ll work as consultant for development of Mandaue City’s side of the Northern Reclamation Area (NRA).

In a phone interview, Boholst told Cebu Daily News that Mayor Jonas Cortes asked him to be his consultant in developing the NRA three months ago and talked to him anew about his offer last Friday.

Boholst, who served as city administrator for four years during Cortes’s term accepted the offer.

“Who can refuse if it’s for the good of Mandaue City,” he said.

As consultant, Boholst said he’s not required to observe office hours and he can still engage in his legal practice.

He said he will first review the contracts and sharing scheme on the projects in the Reclamation Area.

He said he was city administrator the titles of the properties in the Reclamation Area were turned over by the Ouano administration.

“We don’t know if the terms and conditions of the city were complied,” Boholst said. He said Mandaue City owned 22 percent of the Reclamation Area.

Boholst’s consultancy was already endorsed to the Bidding and Awards Committee (BAC) after it was signed by Mayor Cortes. Boholst resigned from his post on March 2011 without citing specific reasons.

Boholst was Cortes’s campaign lawyer when the mayor ran for and won his first term as Mandaue City mayor. Correspondent Jucell Marie P. Cuyos