Magalong rejected P4 reccommendation for market development rejected

September 14, 2020 Headlines

Mayor Benjamin Magalong has rejected the recommendation of the Baguio City Public-Private Partnership for the People (P4) Selection Committee.
In a public statement posted on Facebook Saturday, Magalong said “news of a certain contractor obtained rights to redevelop the City Market resonated.
That is not true.” The P4 SC was charged with evaluating unsolicited proposals therefore, conducted a poll resulting into one of the companies being “recommended” for Original Proponent Status (OPS).
The votes were divided.
He said: “Emphatically, I am rejecting the recommendation of the P4 Committee.” In thumbing down the P4 recommendation, Magalong cited Section 18 of Ordinance numbered 61, series of 2017, or the Baguio City Public-Private Partnership for the People Initiative Code (P4 Ordinance), wherein “the P4 Selection Committee should conduct a thorough evaluation of the unsolicited proposals at the very onset.”
He said “committee clearly noted the critical deficiencies of the purportedly ‘winning proposal’.” Magalong further said: “While the noted deficiencies would have otherwise merited outright rejection of the unsolicited proposal, some voting members of the committee chose to set aside the evaluation and instead favored the said proposal.’
Magalong vowed to probe “into possible reasons as to why this episode even happened. I would like to assure our constituents that I am after what is right, what is fair, what is just.”
He likewise said that he and selected department heads and distinguished consultants will conduct an objective evaluation of the unsolicited proposals based on merit, content and substance.
He added that for the meantime and “for the purpose of transparency, I am causing the publication of the reports made by the different P4 sub-committees on the unsolicited proposals on the redevelopment of the City Market.”
He has likewise tasked the Public Information Office “to provide ready copies of related documents for perusal of our interested constituents.” He added that in doing so, he is subscribing to “good governance beyond politics”. He further said: “I promised the people of Baguio “good housekeeping” at the start of my administration. On my watch, we will sustain it.”
PML/TAFP/ABN