It appears that Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama is not just having a vacation in the United States.
Acting Mayor Edgardo Labella yesterday announced that Rama was able to raise $500,000 in donations from friends for the construction of the new Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC).
At the current foreign exchange rate, the donations are equivalent to at least P21 million.
The amount adds to the P0.5 million that was raised in last Sunday’s “Walk for CCMC” fund-raising campaign which was participated in by city officials, employees and barangay officials, among others from civic society groups.
The Department of Health (DOH) issued last week a permit to start the construction of the new CCMC.
The permit was all that the Cebu city government was waiting for so it could bid out the project and start construction in two months time, said Labella.
“CCMC Chief Dr. Gloria Duterte already received the permit when she traveled to Manila last week. We can now proceed with the bidding to make sure that we go through the process,” he said.
The city government already had P315 million to start phase 1 of the new CCMC. The P300 million was appropriated in the city’s first supplemental budget while the P15 million was raised from donations.
The city government and its interfaith partners organized Saturday’s walk and collected P99-fee from participants who received a cap and a shirt in return.
Another “Walk for CCMC” fund drive is scheduled on September 27.
The old CCMC building was declared unsafe after the earthquake last October 15.
The new building will rise on the same spot along the Natalio Bacalso Avenue.
Hospital workers are currently serving patients at the Bureau of Fire Protection building across the road.
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