ILIGAN City ― In a press conference yesterday, it was learned that BM Marketing, an erstwhile contractor of the “world-class” market at Palao barangay, filed for a temporary restraining order on the matter.
City legal officer Robert Padilla told reporters that said the contractor did so, following the termination of the contract on April 24 this year which the present administration under city mayor Frederick Siao due to several concerns, among them, specifications that were not followed which led to many defects, slippage that was very much in excess of what is provided by law and delays in the completion due to many extensions.
To recall, the construction of the said project had a groundbreaking on February 2020 costing over 500 million pesos and was scheduled to be finished on December 31, 2021, yet, but as of now, it remains unfinished and several extensions were requested by the said contractor and which were also granted, under the administration of then city mayor Celso G. Regencia.
Under the Siao administration after the 2022 extension, another set of extensions was also asked by BM Marketing, the 7th and 8th. The 7th extension was not specifically denied with the new leadership obviously thinking it over but said contractor interpreted it in the affirmative and then asked for an 8th extension, which the Siao administration denied.
Then the Project Implementation Unit came up with documents citing the several lapses in the contract and then Siao formed the Contract Termination and Review Committee which came up with the recommendation of ending the contract between the city and the BM Marketing. Among other things, there was an “additional time extension of 318 days” making it 858 instead of 548 only days in all.
Padilla said the city filed a petition to dismiss such TRO petition by the contractor but was ‘denied.’ However, he added, the said judge at the Lanao Norte Regional Trial Court ‘decided to inhibit himself’ on such a petition, so this will be raffled as to who the judge will decide on the matter.
