MANDAUE CITY, Cebu— Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes said that the city will still need to look deeper into the issue of the lot occupied by the Eversley Childs Sanitarium in Barangay Jagobiao here.
Cortes, in his statement sent to reporters on Wednesday, September 21, 2022, said that the property stated in the province’s demand letter is also being claimed by the national government.
“In fact, tax declarations covering the property are under the name of the Republic of the Philippines,” said Cortes.
The mayor assured though that the city will strive to solve the issue.
“Rest assured that the city will endeavor to resolve this matter as this property involves a government hospital serving patients not only from Mandaue city but also residents of northern cebu and housing projects involving hundreds of Mandauehanons,” he added.
The Cebu Provincial Government, in a demand letter, wants the lot being occupied by the Eversley Child Sanitarium and other facilities to be vacated, saying that it is lawfully owned by the province.
The facilities include the Eversley Child Sanitarium hospital, the Department of Health Treatment and Rehabilitation Center-Cebu City (DOH TRC-Cebu City), and the Jagobiao barangay hall.
The province is giving these facilities 15 days to vacate.
The demand letter issued by the capitol’s legal office was dated September 8, 2022.
The lot claimed by the province has an estimated total area of 25.554 hectares.
Earlier, DOH TRC-Cebu City chief of hospital Dr. Jasmin Peralta said she hoped that the lot will be donated because the facility is serving not just Cebuanos who are drug and alcohol dependents, but also individuals from Visayas, Mindanao, and Luzon.
The facility is the first and only public female rehabilitation facility in the country, she said.
/bmjo
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