After the signing of the ordinance creating the Bacolod Chinatown Center, Bacolod City looks forward to a very successful partnership between it and the Filipino-Chinese community and this will be a test of public-private partnership in the city, Mayor Evelio Leonardia said yesterday.

Leonardia said “We hit the ground running, because right after the signing, we convened the Bacolod City Chinatown Development Council and formed the various committees we believe are necessary to make this project take off.”

He said they have also agreed to hold regular meetings that will not be dependent on the availability of top officials, but must go on, no matter what the circumstances, to ensure that the wheels of the organization will keep rolling.

Leonardia also said that in the next meeting, they expect the initial proposals of the Council committees to come in. The most interesting thing is how the committee on master planning will come up with ideas.

“That is something we will present before the board and, perhaps, on a wider scale, down to the residents and occupants of the area that we have delineated as the Bacolod City Chinatown Center,” he added.

Leonardia said the city is willing to spend for this but, at the same time, they expect participation and contribution from the private sector.

“After all, while we are trying to create an environment where business can grow, so it should be a joint effort of public and private sectors,” he said.

Councilor Em Legaspi-Ang, a co-proponent of the ordinance, said that persons or entities who wish to put up projects or improvements in the China Town Center, will be entitled to a tax refund in the form of a Tax Credit Certificate.

She said that if an individual would like to put up a project in the Chinatown center, 70 percent of the cost of the project or structure will be paid by the city in the form of Tax Credit Certificate, which will be spread over a period of five years.

The Chinatown ordinance, that was approved by the Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod on the last week of December 2011, was authored by Councilor Dindo Ramos.*CGS

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