Capitol exec will not renew Bacolod consultancy contract

By Dolly Yasa

BACOLOD City – Negros Occidental Provincial Administrator Atty. Rayfrando Diaz said he will no longer renew his consultancy contract with the Bacolod City government.

Diaz’s consultancy contract with the city government is set to expire on Dec 31, 2022.

He confirmed to reporters that he will no longer renew his contract.

“Everything they need is already in place,” Diaz stressed.

Aside from Diaz, who served as a consultant of the Bacolod City Government for administrative matters and system review, Mayor Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez also contracted the “pro bono” services of Dr. Mary Ann Maestral as a consultant for health and hospital concerns and Lucille Gelvolea as a consultant for special projects and economic affairs.

Currently, Maestral is the hospital chief of Teresita Lopez Jalandoni Provincial Hospital in Silay City, Negros Occidental, while Gelvolea is the head of the provincial government’s Economic Enterprise Development Department.

“It’s good to note that Mayor Albee is already confident of going forward with what systems he already has,” Diaz added.

Before he was elected as mayor of Bacolod City, Benitez served as a consultant for Trade and Investment Promotions of the provincial government after ending his three-term stint as congressman of the Negros Occidental 3rd district.

On the other hand, Diaz said he has no idea if Maestral and Gelvolea will also continue their consultancy contract with the city government of Bacolod.

If they want to continue and extend their consultancy agreements with Bacolod City, “it’s their personal decision,” he said.

Benitez said he tapped Diaz as city consultant for administrative matters and system review.

The priority is to set up systems in the Bacolod City government that have already been successfully implemented by the provincial government, the mayor said.

A document tracking system was set up that will make use of QR or bar codes for efficient access to needed data, he said.