Press Secretary Herminio Coloma’s statement about the private sector stepping up the plate to build the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC), while on target with President Benigno Aquino III’s theme about public-private partnership (PPP), is still an admission about the laidback attitude and refusal of his administration to admit responsibility for the welfare of Filipinos.
In calling on the private sector to assist in building a new CCMC, Coloma appealed to the corporate social responsibility (CSR) of the companies as reason for them to provide financial and material assistance to Cebu City Hall for this project which carries a P1-billion price tag.
Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama practically said the same thing when he started that “Piso Mo Hospital Ko” fundraising campaign for the CCMC project. A July 19-walkathon is scheduled to complement the fundraising campaign and Rama went to the US to ask for funds from the Operation Smile Foundation.
We can only hope that the Aquino administration and its successor won’t rely on the private sector to do the heavy lifting on the CCMC project. The PPP is supposed to be an equitable arrangement which means each party contributes and receives half, not more than half, of their share of their venture.
While it’s true that the national government has a myriad of concerns when it comes to the health and welfare of its constituents, it shouldn’t abandon its mandate to construct vital infrastructure and services and relegate it to the private sector, which also has its own employees to care for.
The private sector, for its part, simply cannot ignore and assume it’s business as usual as it continues to earn profits while its indigent neighbors struggle to recover from the devastation caused by the Oct. 15 earthquake and supertyphoon Yolanda.
The twin disasters saw Cebu’s business community and private sector mobilize their personnel and resources on a scale not seen since typhoon Ruping laid waste on Cebu’s infrastructure in the 90s.
The Aquino administration paid back their efforts with middling to token support. It’s not surprising why it took them so long to even acknowledge the province’s rehabilitation plan if we go by President Aquino’s previous statement that it is the responsibility of local government units (LGUs) to care for their constituents who were hit by natural calamities.
The same Aquino principle applies to the CCMC. Hence Cebu City residents should remind the administration through its elected and appointed officials that they should not be remiss in building a new city hospital for Cebu City whose residents also pay their share of taxes to the national treasury.
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