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BACOLOD CITY — The Bacolod City government signed a 10-year build-transfer-maintain agreement with private proponent High-Data Infra Corp. to develop the landmark Bacolod Super City Project.
Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez and High-Data Infra authorized representative Danny Fernandez signed the contract worth P2.105 billion on Monday afternoon to develop a central hub for monitoring diverse conditions and incidents, and enhance the delivery of frontline and backroom services and transactions.
"This agreement will usher Bacolod into a new era," declared Benitez after the signing ceremony at the Bacolod City Government Center main lobby.
IT’S A DEAL Bacolod City Mayor Albee Benitez (right) presents the Build-Transfer-Maintain Agreement with Danny Fernandez, representative of High Data Infra Inc., private proponent of the P2.1-billion 10-year project, during the signing ceremony at New Government Center lobby on March 3, 2025. PHOTO COURTESY OF BACOLOD CITY PIO
"We can all be proud that Bacolod is moving forward in its commitment to ensure its transformation into a super city by introducing modern technology in our daily transactions," continued Benitez.
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The mayor said the city government does not need to secure a loan to avail of the project that will be paid over a 10-year period, stating that the city is making its tax collection more efficient to achieve a target collection for an P5 billion that is more than double the cost of the project.
The mayor also cited the city's annual National Tax Allotment is also expected to increase by P200 million to augment its budget requirement for the project.
The project, in fact, will easily increase the city's tax collection by 40 percent without having to raise taxes, Benitez pointed out.
He said this will be achieved through the project's e-governance platforms: the Property and Tax Assessment System (PTAS) Solution and Geographic Information System (GIS) Solution.
The PTAS will be designed for efficient transaction processing, property valuation maintenance and archiving of real property tax records for improving the local government units' tax collection functions.
The unified GIS will be used for the visualization and analysis of geographic information for real property tax purposes.
The project that is exempted from the election period ban can commence immediately, the mayor said.
The Bacolod Super City Project is a key public-private partnership (PPP), harnessing private sector expertise toward a more connected and future-ready Bacolod.
Executive Director Eleazar Ricote, PPP Center deputy, said the project is "a significant milestone in Bacolod's journey toward becoming a smarter and resilient city."
"We're happy that among the first local government units to proceed and reach this milestone under the current PPP Law is Bacolod City," said Ricote.
Set to start this year, the Bacolod Super City Project has various components to be implemented in the next 10 years.
Among them is a centralized command center located in Barangay Taculing for monitoring traffic, natural disasters and criminal activities, as well as coordinating emergency responses and disseminating public alerts.
Also included are the installation of intelligent streetlamps poles equipped with video surveillance and analytics in about 150 locations, and the development of a property tax assessment system for efficient transaction in tax collection and planning.
Another component is the development of a comprehensive GIS using ArcGIS software to facilitate creation of maps, spatial analysis and data integration to improve operational efficiency and data sharing within local government departments.
Fernandez said the implementation of the e-gov (electronic government) component will start this year while the centralized command center system is seen to be operational in two years.
"On the sixth year, all the infrastructure, all the e-gov components will be fully operational, and we will continuously maintain it to ensure that all components are working efficiently," Fernandez said.
