Naga Mayor Leni Robredo laid out the facts about the P500 million rehabilitation of the Jesse Robredo Coliseum amid claims that the national government’s funding was a politically motivated move.
In a Facebook post, Robredo said the coliseum, which was renamed after her husband after he died in a 2012 plane crash, has been used as an evacuation center throughout the years.
The coliseum has a seating capacity of 12,000 and has been the largest evacuation center in the region, housing thousands of families during calamities, she noted.
But she also said it was not built to become an evacuation center and does not have amenities for the needs of evacuees.
She said there is not enough space for tents, the bleachers cannot be used as beds, the restrooms are on the ground floor and cannot be used during floods, and it has no communal kitchens.
This is why there is a need to repair and retrofit it, she said.
Robredo said that when she became Naga City mayor in 2025, she tried to look for funding, and Sen. Francis Pangilinan advised her to apply for funding from the local government support fund.
She said she was informed in February 2026 that her request was “approved in principle.”
In the same month, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. visited Naga and gave her the special allotment release order for the project.
P450 million is for the repair and rehabilitation of the coliseum and P50M is for heavy equipment for disaster response.
But she also said that even with the SARO, construction could not begin immediately because the government agencies holding office in the facility need to be relocated.
She said the construction may begin in October.
Earlier, Pangilinan refuted insinuations of Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice that the Marcos administration funded the project to court the support Robredo.
Pangilinan said there is a pressing public need addressed by the coliseum’s rehabilitation.
“It is a sound public investment: one expense, dual purpose. On ordinary days, it is a sports and civic facility. During disasters, it becomes a place where families can seek shelter,” he said.
He suggested that Erice visit Naga to understand the need for the project.