Why citizens want special COA audit of Bacolod’s multi-billion peso loans

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – Public outcry continues to grow over the loan brouhaha in Bacolod City.

And it looks out of the ordinary now.

Religious and civil society groups have united to ask the Commission on Audit (COA) for a special audit of city projects funded by multi-billion peso loans and long-term obligations incurred during the terms of former mayors Evelio “Bing” Leonardia and Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez.

Standing together in deep alarm, the Joint Civil Society Coalition (JCSC) called for full transparency and public accountability by demanding an investigation into the city’s controversial financial obligations: the P1.7 billion loan under the Leonardia administration, and the P4.171 billion loan alongside an additional P2.1 billion service contract under Benitez’s term.

The demand for a special audit emerged amid rising tensions among city officials regarding local government loans and the controversial, unfinished P765-million legislative building.

In their four-page letter addressed to city and COA officials, released to the media on Friday, November 6, the coalition asked for the immediate online release of all signed loan contracts, repayment matrices, bank covenants, and long-term service agreements in an easily readable format for public perusal and evaluation.

The coalition also demanded a freeze on all further loan disbursements pending completion of COA’s audit and reevaluation of implemented projects.

Both Councilor Wilson Gamboa Jr. and Homer Bais spun the call for audit, especially the P4.171 billion loan from Development Bank of the Philippines by the previous Benitez’s mayoral administration.

Gamboa is a “lone wolf” on the city council, while Bais is a political ally of Benitez under local party Team Asenso.

However, it was Bais who was involved in an altercation with Benitez, which later escalated into a table-thumping incident in the lobby of the Bacolod City Government Center on October 16.

Five days after the infamous table-slamming incident, Benitez publicly apologized for conduct unbecoming a deputy speaker of the House.

A call for an audit of his multi-billion-peso loans and unfinished projects followed.

However, both Gamboa and Bais’ resolutions calling for an audit of Benitez’s loans and projects were voted down by the council majority in the council, which is politically allied with the latter.

Now comes the coalition of religious and civil society groups, with signatories saying they are making such a move not just as leaders of civil society organizations, faith communities, and professional associations, but as “deeply concerned taxpayers and residents who care for the welfare of the city and its inhabitants,” read a portion of the four-page coalition letter addressed to city and COA officials.

On October 30, anti-graft crusader John Chiong, founder and president of Task Force Kasanag (TFK), also requested COA Chairperson Gamaliela Cordoba to conduct a forensic audit on the loans and the legislative building being built by the controversial contractor, Legacy Construction Corporation, owned by Alex Abelido.

However, the coalition said that beyond multi-billion-peso bank loans for various development projects, the coalition also wants to know everything behind the P2.1-billion, 10-year agreement between the city and High Data Infrastructure Inc. (High Data) for the “Bacolod Super City” project.

Even though some councilors maintained that the contract with High Data is a Build-Transfer-Maintain (BTM) arrangement under a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) rather than a loan, the coalition is alarmed that the city initially has to pay P125 million in 2025, followed by P200 million annually for the remaining nine years.

The ambitious P2.1 billion contract with High Data aims to build a smart communication infrastructure for a smart command center, leading the way to a Bacolod Super City.

The controversial billionaire gaming mogul, Benitez, is currently silent regarding the issues surrounding the city loans, the unfinished legislative building, and the High Data brouhaha.

In his press statement on October 19, the former mayor-turned-congressman said that he would continue to advocate for transparency and accountability in all government dealings.

However, when Bais proposed a resolution seeking a fraud audit from COA on the much-discussed legislative building on October 24, Albee kept mum.

His political allies in the council voted down Bais’s proposed resolution.

But the coalition said that for the city government to set aside P560 million in next year’s budget purely for loan principal and interest was an amount large enough to run an entire municipality or two.

It then asked: “By locking up annual funds for the decade-long contract deals, how will this burden benefit the people of Bacolod?”

The coalition reminded city executives that when billions are poured into public works and burdensome long-term contracts, it is the low-income families, informal settlers, public transport drivers, vendors, and small business owners who end up squeezed.

Worse, it added: “Future generations who had no voice in these deliberations will bear the weight of the debt servicing that swallows up a massive chunk of city revenues and essential funds for public health, education, flood control, other basic services, and vital development programs.”

“So, when the councilors step up to defend taxpayers and ask tough but necessary questions, they should be met with clear answers, not hostility,” the coalition reiterated.

“The Sangguniang Panlungsod cannot be a mere stamping pad,” it pointed out; it must exercise its responsibility to perform oversight duties when called for.

Thus, the coalition’s signatories stressed, “As the ones paying every single centavo spent on government projects, we demand full transparency, the highest standard of integrity, and accountability when warranted.”

Hence, it wants COA’s intervention by way of conducting a special audit covering the following:

• all loan contracts
• bank disbursements
• interest schedules
• construction timelines
• long-term General Fund commitnents
• project delays
• financial slippage

The coalition said, “Government must balance the appetite for the high-impact initiatives against the needs of the most needy.”

The 21 groups and signatories in the coalition include the following:

Most Reverend Gerardo Alminaza
Bishop, Diocese of San Carlos
Representative, REpower Negros

Rafael “Lito” Coscolluela
Former governor, Negros Occidental
Founding fresident, Paghimud-os Negros, Inc.

Reverend Father Julius Espinosa
Director, Caritas Bacolod Social Action Foundation Inc., Diocese of Bacolod

Reverend Father Chris Gonzales
Parish Priest, Triumph of the Holy Cross Parish
Barangay Estefania, Bacolod City

Reverend Father Anecito “Mao” Buenafe
Parish Priest, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish
Barangay Bata, Bacolod City

Reverend Father Armando Onion
Parish Priest, St. Joseph Husband of Mary Parish
Henrietta Village, Barangay Singcang-Airport, Bacolod City

Jun Posadas
Freedom from Debt Coalition-Negros

Ted Lopez
Alter Trade Foundation, Inc.

Gualberto Dajao
Negros Organic Agriculture Movement

Kevin Gaitan
Executive Director, Negrosanon Young Leaders Institute (NYLI)

Edwin Balajadia
Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement-Negros