The opening of the new Bacolod City Government Center may be delayed by about 50 days because a re-bidding for the purchase of furniture and fixtures will have to be conducted, Bids and Awards chairman and Secretary to the Mayor Goldwyn Nifras said yesterday.

Nifras said there was a failure of bidding, since the three prospective bidders did not pass the eligibility and technical bid conducted at the new government center Wednesday, so they will have to start all over again.

The BAC and the committee that recommended the purchase of the furniture and fixtures with a budget contract of P50 million, will meet next week and decide when to conduct a re-bidding, he said. They will also decide whether or not to make modifications in the requirements, he added.

Nifras said that this will mean a delay in their transfer to the new government center. He said that the time of the invitation to bid is 20 days and the delivery will take another 20 days so he estimates that it will take them about 50 days from the time of publication.

The Bacolod City Government Center is the symbol of the dedication and care for the common good that the good people in the Bacolod City government render to the inhabitants of this city, Archbishop Edward Joseph Adams, Papal Nuncio to the Philippines, who blessed the facility, yesterday said.

It is a happy coincidence that the Bacolod Government Center has been formally blessed on the very eve of the consecration of Bacolod’s native son, Bishop-elect Gerardo Alminaza, Adams said.

He said they thank Alminaza for accepting the Holy Father’s appointment for him to be auxillary bishop for Jaro.

“In blessing this center, we have also invoked the Lord’s favor on all those who will come here and especially on all those who will work here in order to serve the people and city of Bacolod,” Adams also said.

Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia yesterday said Philippine ring icon Manny Pacquiao has confirmed his visit Bacolod Thursday and said he hopes the people of Bacolod will receive him in the same way that they did during his last visit to the city.

Pacquiao won his fourth world championship belt June 28 in Las Vegas. He is the first Asian to achieve such distinction.

Leonardia said they plan to take the boxing champion on a parade in Bacolod as they did in July 2006, to give Bacoleños a chance to see him in person.

Nobody can stop the Bacolod City government if it applies for direct power connection to the National Power Corp., Central Negros Electric Cooperative president Roberto Montelibano said.

However, they have to qualify, he said.

Montelibano said it is premature for the city to pronounce that CENECO will not provide power connection to the government center because it has not applied.

“The city is just presuming that it will not be given power connection by CENECO,” he said. If it applies, its papers will still be processed, he added.

City Administrator Roger Balo said the city cannot apply for power connection if they have no occupancy permit. They have not yet applied for occupancy permit since the government center has not yet been completed, he said.

Balo said they may apply with CENECO if it would take long for the city to apply with the Energy Regulatory Commission for direct power connection to NAPOCOR.

More Bacolod City venues for the live telecast of the Manny Pacquiao and David Diaz’s “Lethal Combination” fight for the World Boxing Council championship title will be opened this Sunday.

In Bacolod City, the fight will be shown live from Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada USA in malls, hotels, barangay and school gymnasiums, the BAYS Center and at the City Hall.

At P100 with free lunch, the public can watch the fight at the Gaisano City mall foodcourt, while those who prefer to view the bout and shop at SM mall, can join the crowd at SM Cinema 1 and pay P400 for deluxe accommodation and P500 for premiere.

The fight will also be shown live at Robinsons Movieworld starting 8 a.m.

L’Fisher Hotel will also open its La Proa grand ballroom to those who want to watch the fight and enjoy a buffet lunch at the hotel at P610 per person.

Five minors were injured, two of them now in critical condition, after live ammunition of an M-203 grenade launcher that was mistaken for scrap iron exploded yesterday in Sagay City, Negros Occidental.

The victims were identified as Andro Villaflor, 9, Louella Magbato, 7, and her elder sister, Mariel, 9, Maria Elaiza Esporas, 8, and April Rose Bacalso, 9.

Initial police investigation show that Esporas pounded an M-203 grenade launcher live cartridge on a concrete pavement of a private cemetery in Brgy. Taba-ao, Sagay City

Supt. William Senoron, Sagay police chief, said Esporas whose right hand was almost severed by the explosion, and Villaflor, are now in serious condition, and being treated at the Our Lady of Mercy Hospital in Bacolod City.

Fourteen complainants have filed estafa charges against a tertiary school in Bacolod City for allegedly recruiting them into a nursing course even before getting a permit from the government.

Pietro Villarin, their lawyer, said yesterday that the complainants filed the cases against AMA Computer College-Bacolod Inc., last week after learning that the school had admitted their children to its practical nursing program although it had not yet been permitted by the Technical Education Skills and Development Authority to offer the course.

Fifteen other complainants are also processing their charges against AMA, he said.

The students were admitted in 2006 but TESDA only issued AMA a Certificate of Registration only on May 29 this year, Villarin said.

Yolanda Porschwitz, TESDA Negros Occidental provincial director, confirmed that AMA has not been authorized to offer practical nursing yet in 2006.

Central Negros Electric Cooperative deferred its plan to serve a notice of disconnection to the Bacolod City government yesterday while both parties attempt to settle the issue of unpaid franchise tax and electric bills.

CENECO general manager Sulpicio Lagarde Jr. said he begged that the notice of disconnection be delayed for several days since he wants the process completed.

The disconnection will follow if there is no clear solution on the issues involving the unpaid franchise taxes of CENECO to the city and the unpaid electric bills of the city to the electric utility, he said.

Lagarde said the CENECO board resolution was unanimously approved by its directors on July 8, 2008 which directed him to serve the disconnection notice to the city. As an employee, he is duty-bound to comply with the order, he said.

Lagarde said they only served a demand letter to the city yesterday asking the local government to settle its unpaid account with the electric cooperative.

Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia yesterday said Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao will extend assistance to the typhoon victims of Bacolod City .

The Bacoleños and Negrenses in America are also going to contribute to the victims of Typhoon Frank in Bacolod , while a Councilor of Carlson City in California also promised he and his colleagues will campaign for assistance, Leonardia said.

Pacquiao said yes when he asked him if he could give assistance to the typhoon victims in Bacolod , Leonardia said.

Pacquiao also promised that he will visit Bacolod , he added. This is definite but Pacquiao wants to finalize the schedule when he returns to the Philippines , he said.

Leonardia carried the belt of Pacquiao into the ring at the fight where the Filipino boxing icon knocked out Mexican-American David Diaz in the ninth round at Mandalay Bay , Las Vegas , Nevada .

“We will celebrate the victory of Pacqiuao (in Bacolod when he visits),” Leonardia said. Even the Filipino community in other countries celebrates Pacquiao's victory, he said, as he is a uniting factor and is indeed a national treasure.

Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia has designated Vice Mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson as acting mayor effective yesterday, until his return to the country.

The mayor left for the United States yesterday on the invitation of boxer Manny Pacquiao for his fight with David Diaz, dubbed “Lethal Combination”, in Las Vegas on June 28, a City Hall press release said.

The mayor will also be visiting the Federation of Filipino American Associations Inc., on the invitation of its president Leo Pandac, to discuss plans for Bacolod 's participation in the 23 rd Philippine American Exposition at the Los Angeles Convention Center in September.

Leonardia is also going to Sacramento on invitation of Bill Ludwig, chief executive officer of the U.S. Science and Technology, to learn about efforts to build a plasma gasification plant to vaporize city trash, the press release said.