Cebu City Hall has officially ended its “Piso Mo, Hospital Ko” fund raising campaign for the construction of a new Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC).
At yesterday’s culmination program, City Treasurer Diwa Cuevas announced that the city government was able to raise P16,299,690.53 as of Wednesday.
Five-gallon water jugs were used as “coin banks” and placed in public markets, schools, malls, restaurants and other business establishments in the city.
The “piso-piso” collection in the jugs reached P13,843,690.16.
Another P2,456,000.37 was raised from foreign donations and deposited in City Hall’s dollar account.
“Every drop of peso is every heart put in helping the poor man’s hospital. Let it reverberate. I don’t mind being labeled a professional beggar until the poor man’s hospital will rise,” Mayor Michael Rama said in a speech.
Even with the fund raising campaign over, the mayor said Cebu City will still accept donations.
Rama said he has been talking with officials of Metrobank who will be visiting Cebu soon to check the state of the CCMC. Rama said he is also in talks with the SM group.
Businessman Manny Pangilinan has pledged another P5 million for the project.
Several Filipino communities in the US have also pledged to help raise funds for the hospital building.
Rama earlier this year when he went to the US and spoke with community leaders to seek their help to raise funds for CCMC. He said he will be forming a committee to follow up the pledges.
“Until now the national government is still not clear if they want to help or not. I don’t want to be optimistic, but my term will end by 2016 as well as the president’s term,” Rama said.
The “Piso Mo, Hospital Ko” campaign was the brainchild of Councilor Mary Ann Delos Santos whom Rama appointed to head the CCMC ad hoc committee.
Delos Santos was absent in yesterday’s ceremony. She and other city councilors were in Carmen town to attend a Christmas party.
She earlier said she respects the mayor’s decision to end the fund drive.
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