Naga Mayor Leni clears air over P500-M grant for JMR coliseum

NAGA CITY – In a post on her personal Facebook account Monday, 21 September, Naga City Mayor Leni Robredo explained point by point why the city was awarded a P500 million grant by the national government and how it will be used for the rehabilitation of the Jesse M. Robredo (JMR) Coliseum.

Robredo was responding to Caloocan 2nd District Representative Edgar Erice’s allegation that the money, which was released through the Local Government Support Fund (LGSF), was a presidential discretion or a form of “pork barrel” which was politically motivated to win the Naga City mayor’s support.

At a session in Congress on Tuesday, 15 September, Erice questioned the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) regarding the criteria used for the grant. He asked why Naga City was prioritized over other poorer local government units in the Bicol Region needing financial help, criticizing the distribution framework of the LGSF.

In her social media post, Robredo explained that after typhoon Kristine (international name: Trami) in 2024 brought the worst flooding in Naga City and Camarines Sur, the need to repair and rebuild the Coliseum became a larger concern than ever before.

Robredo said the Coliseum served as the largest evacuation center for residents of Naga during destructive typhoons for the last 16 years. She explained that it was constructed in 2009 but was only inaugurated in 2010 as the Naga City Coliseum.

The 12,000-seat coliseum was the largest of its kind in South Luzon and was originally meant to host large events, conventions, sports competitions, and concerts, she added.

“After my husband (Secretary of Interior and Local Government Jesse Robredo) died in August 2012, the Sangguniang Panglungsod (City Council) passed Ordinance 2012-043, which renamed it into the Jesse M. Robredo Coliseum,” she said on her post.

She added that at the start of her term in 2025, she began looking for funding for its rehabilitation.

"Sometime early February 2026, we were advised that the request (for funding made to DBM) was already approved in principle. On February 23, 2026, President BBM visited Naga and handed already to us the SARO (Special Allotment Release Order) - P450M for the repair and rehabilitation of the Coliseum and P50M for heavy equipment that we would need to strengthen our resilience against disasters," she said.

She said that the city cannot yet start construction at the Coliseum even with the SARO already at its disposal because a number of government and non-government agencies/organizations hold office there. She added that these agencies and offices will be relocated to the Balatas Building that will serve as their temporary offices, but the said building will only be ready by October.

The bidding for the rehabilitation of the Coliseum was scheduled this September.

“Right now, we are already in the post qualification stage and, hopefully, construction can start within the month of October,” Robredo said.