BAUKO, Mountain Province – Former Mayor Abraham B. Akilit urged the local government to immediately lease the available spaces within the three-storey market structure that was completed to serve its purpose as an income-generating facility and to provide micro, small and medium enterprises with an avenue to sell their products.
Akilit issued the statement following initial reports that the local government intends to use the newly constructed market building as offices for the local government while the present municipal building will be the one that will be used for the market stalls.
The former mayor claimed that the decision of the municipal government to use the new market structure as offices in exchange for the old municipal building which will be converted into the market is dangerous because it will open the possibility of the filing of graft charges against incumbent municipal officials for alleged technical malversation because the purpose for which the loan from the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) was obtained will not be realized and instead will be used for other purposes.
Earlier, the municipal government obtained more than P100 million loan from the LBP to be used for the purchase of a lot and the construction of a three-storey structure for the town’s market structure to serve as the local government’s income generating facility right at the heart of the municipality.
Akilit pointed out that the plan to construct a market building started during his term as the town’s local chief executive where the finance committee recommended the put up of the market structure which was the subject of the requisite feasibility study that paved the way for the municipal government to acquire the loan for the said purpose.
According to him, all the necessary documents for the loan were completed prior to the expiration of his three terms as mayor of the municipality on June 30, 2022 and that the present administration just had to work on the implementation of the construction of the market structure and its supposed lease to the interested vendors from different micro, small and medium enterprises in the municipality that had been given various assistance from concerned government agencies over the past several years for them to be able to market their products.
He challenged the present administration to source out funds from concerned government agencies for the improvement of the existing municipal building or construct a new one in nearby areas but not to use the newly constructed market structure as offices of the local government because it is not what it had been intended for based on the loan agreement.
The town’s market building was reportedly completed last year and that it was supposed to be ready for occupancy last December but it still remains unoccupied due to the plan of the local government to use it as a one-stop shop municipal hall while the old municipal building will be the one that will be used as a market which is already questionable and illegal.
Akilit expressed hope that the present batch of municipal officials will adhere to the conditions of the loan agreement by starting to lease out the available stalls in the new market structure so that it will start to earn the necessary income that will be used to amortize the loan instead of the local government allowing a huge portion of its internal revenue allotment (IRA) to be withheld and pay for the loan that will deprive the people the effective and efficient delivery of services and the implementation of high impact development projects in the municipality. By Dexter A. See
