CEBU CITY, Philippines —Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama is expected to give updates on the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) when he delivers his second State of the City Address (SOCA) on July 3, 2023.
Sought for an update on the construction of the 10-story CCMC, whose three remaining upper floors, from the eighth to the 10th floors, have yet to be finished, Mayor Rama did not give a straight answer.
However, he said he had already instructed the technical team to hasten the process for the completion of the CCMC, which he dubbed “poor man’s hospital, with a rich man’s service.”
“Abangan ang susunod…Kay ang akong term is (until) 2025, and technically, naa may mga technical people. So, they are more adept at the time frame, but I’ve already been telling them, and they are now coming in with their own reasonable, feasible, doable time frame,” he said during a news forum on Tuesday, June 13.
“Just today, I was with Bu Varquez together with (CCMC) Medical Director Dr. Peter Mancao, and I was highlighting to them: ayaw na mo sige pag estorya, you walk the talk. I want an output, and I want that by July 3, you are all invited to Plaza Sugbo for the PSOCA-People State of the City Address. It would be there,” he added.
To recall, during the city’s 86th Charter Day last Feb. 24, the mayor wanted the CCMC to be fully operational by November 2023, which is five months from now. It is still not clear if the city will follow another timetable or target date for the CCMC’s completion.
After terminating the contract and resolving the issue with the contractor of the hospital’s Phase 4 contractor, M.E. Sicat Construction Inc., the mayor said the city would not be spending any more on the completion of the CCMC but instead rely on public-private partnership solutions.
Currently, at least four Filipino private companies and one group of Chinese businessmen already pledged about P1 billion in funds to complete the CCMC’s three remaining floors.
As of November 2022, the total construction cost incurred for the new CCMC building was P1,909,813,695.79.
Since the works for the new CCMC building started in 2015, the city government has entered into a contract with four contractors: C.E Padilla Construction, Inc., Chariz Construction, C.B. Garay Philwide Builders, and M.E Sicat Construction Inc., and each of these contractors undertook different phases for the new CCMC building construction.
/bmjo
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