Some members of the Cebu City Council wait for officials of the Cebu City Medical Center and other invited guests to appear in the executive session scheduled on Tuesday, October 29. | Sangguniang Panlungsod Cebu City – Secretariat/ Facebook Live
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City Council is considering the filing of contempt charges against key officials of the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) and other government offices, who continue to ignore their invitation to appear in an executive session to discuss the progress of the hospital construction project.
Councilors would have wanted to seek an audience with them to ask for an explanation as to what’s causing the delays in the completion of the construction project.
They also wanted to know why phase 4 of the project worth P1 billion “bypassed” the Council’s scrutiny.
READ: CCMC still unfinished after nearly a decade, P2B expenditure
Legislators have extended an invitation to appear in an executive session on Tuesday, October 29, to Dr. Peter Mancao, Chief of Hospital; Engineer Robert “Bo” Varquez, Executive Director of the South Road Properties Management Office; and representatives of the Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW), City Accounting Office, Cebu Medical Society, and the project contractor C.E. Padilla.
These key individuals were asked to provide updates on the bidding process, contracts, Program of Work and Estimates (POWE), and other critical documents related to the CCMC’s construction.
READ: COA: CCMC project contract price was ‘bloated’ by P62M
Lack of accountability
However, only a representative from the City Accounting Office and Engineer Varquez attended the session, which left council members frustrated over their lack of accountability and transparency.
This was not the first time that the invited personalities ignored the Council’s invitation. Similar invitations were also extended in the past, with only one to three key figures attending each time. Because of this, the Council had to extend to conduct of an executive session several times to discuss CCMC concerns.
READ: CCMC: A decade of delays and still no clear end in sight
On Tuesday, legislators agreed to again hold another executive session on November 7 to discuss CCMC concerns and to again invite the key officials that they invited earlier.
Majority Floor Leader Jocelyn Pesquera said they risk facing contempt charges if they continue to ignore the Council’s invitation.
READ: Rama wants to finish CCMC reconstruction without a ‘single centavo’ spent from City Hall coffers
In addition, she urged Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia to also take action on the matter.
Councilor Mary Ann delos Santos, who authored the resolution for the conduct of an executive session on the CCMC project, said that the absences may be intentional to prevent the council from looking into the project.
“CCMC has been under construction for nearly a decade, and those who could shed light on its progress are absent,” delos Santos said.
READ: De los Santos: Probe alleged anomaly of CCMC employees selling expensive medicines
Procedural lapses
Pesquera said she was concerned about alleged procedural lapses in the implementation of the hospital construction project. She noted past instances wherein the project’s contracts were awarded even in the absence of the Council’s approval or proper documentation.
“I always insist that we follow procedure because of these lapses. That’s why many questions cannot be fully understood or answered correctly because they thought we [the council] don’t care, they think we would not check on these items,” she said.
Pesquera added that rumors of a potential conflict of interest may further complicate the project’s implementation.
According to Pesquera, a DEPW employee who is tasked with monitor the project’s implementation reportedly married a staff member of a major contractor after the bidding process was concluded.
“I would say there might be a conflict of interest. They just waited for the bidding to finish before getting married. It’s unfair. There are questions about the project, and the ones who are sued are left to deal with the issues, while the people making these contracts get off scot-free,” she said.
Unresolved issues
Moreover, Minority floor leader Nestor Archival Sr. said it appears that phase 4 was awarded in haste, even if there were still unresolved issues on the implementation of phases 1 to 3.
Archival added that he received information that the city already paid in advance 15 percent of the P1 billion contract cost for phase 4, which is a cause for concern.
“I think dugay na ni, pero karon lang mi nakabalo ani. Mao na nga nag-ask ko pila diay ang kontrata. Gikan ni sa accounting nga naa diay silay gibayaran ani. For me, there’s irregularities, and we haven’t seen any plans yet. Dugay na kaayo mi nangayo ana,” he said.
Archival added that the continued absences of CCMC officials and other invited guests to their executive session is an indication that they are “hiding something.”