CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama is determined to conduct another round of investment “begging” for the completion of the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) after he announced his intention to terminate the existing P900-million contract for the 10-story CCMC project.
Citing dissatisfaction over supposed delays in the project, the mayor announced that the city is in the process of terminating the contract it entered into with a private contractor to undertake the fourth phase of the project in a press conference at city hall on Tuesday, November 9, 2022.
The mayor, however, assured that despite this development with CCMC, his administration would do what it can to realize the city’s “long overdue” dream of having the CCMC, which he called a “poor man’s hospital, but with a rich man’s service” fully operational the soonest possible time.
CDN Digital will not name the project contractor in this article, pending their side of the issue.
Legal ground
Lawyer Jerone Castillo, the mayor’s assistant for special projects, maintained that there is a “sufficient and factual” legal ground for the city to terminate the contract and guaranteed that the termination process, to be initiated by a Contract Termination Review Committee, will be “objective, fair, and deliberative.”
Castillo said they did a “careful” study with the city’s panel of lawyers before finalizing its decision to terminate the current CCMC contract.
“Yesterday evening, we gathered our lawyers to look at it from the perspective of factual and legal antecedents. There is a basis for this action, but then again the mayor said there is an observance of due process,” he told reporters.
“The project is supposed to be 2015 pa ni nga hospital. So, we must act with expediency. Dugay na. Long overdue na. Napakyas sila pag deliver sa angay nilang buhaton,” he added.
He also clarified that the Contract Termination Review Committee will not only be focusing on the CCMC but as well on other infrastructure projects of the city that are encountering delays.
Castillo said that their basis for terminating the project contract is the Guidelines on the Termination of Contracts under Republic Act 9184 or the “Government Procurement Reform Act,” and its provision stating that failure to comply with the valid instruction of the procuring entity, in this case, the city government, is enough basis for the city to terminate the contract.
He said the termination will take effect once the process is completed. In the meantime, the contractor will have to stop their work at the CCCMC while the contract is under review.
“Ato ng ipahunong, then we constitute the committee; we submit all documentations there and then we deliberate there,” he said.
‘Enough is enough’
Rama said he could no longer wait for the current contractor to deliver its committed construction progress.
“Enough is enough. Too long the waiting. Too much the patience being invested. The time has come that we must make a stand,” the mayor said.
To recall, the mayor gave the contractor until October 28, which is his birthday, to finish construction of the hospital.
The contractor, then committed that they can make the third and fourth floors of the CCMC building fully operational by October 2022; these floors will house the operating room complex and the emergency room complex.
However, Rama noted “only minimal” improvements during his site visit at the hospital last October 28.
READ: Rama to ask contractor why there’s only ‘minimal’ improvement on CCMC 8th and 9th floors
The contractor of the fourth phase of CCMC was tasked to do the architectural works for the third and fourth floors and the structural works for the seventh to 10th floors of the CCMC. The city government entered into a contract with the private firm in April 2022.
Meanwhile, Rama hinted, during the press conference, that he is not inclined to conduct another bidding process for the project but would resort to “certain arrangements” and tap investors to continue the project.
He also hinted that many private individuals are willing to help realize CCMC.
Among the pledges the mayor got for CCMC from his previous rounds of investment begging was from tycoon Manny V. Pangilinan.
READ: Rama to do another round of ‘investment-begging’, to ask help from PBBM
“Manglimos ko aron di na ta mag sige og istorya pa og bidding. We will just have to assure transparency, liquidation,” he said.
/bmjo
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