Mary Ann downplays city hospital scrap issue

Cebu City Councilor Mary Ann de Los Santos yesterday welcomed the move to ask the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas to look into the case of the missing scrap from the old Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) building.

She said she already expected the issue to be brought up again following her defection to the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) from Team Rama.

“I expected that issue to resurface because of the recent turn of events especially in the field of politics. As far as I’m concerned, that issue has been addressed and answered already. The letter of the contractor was self-explanatory,” she told Cebu Daily News.

She was referring to the letter of JLC Construction, which undertook the demolition of the old CCMC building at no cost to the city.

The letter stated that the demolition cost them around P7.6 million. But they only earned around P1.8 million from the scrap materials from the building.

This was already discussed in an executive session with the city council last December 2014, de los Santos said.

“However, if they would want to dig that old issue, I would be more than happy to again explain and air my side on the matter. I just hope that reviving the issue would not blow up on someone else’s face,” she added.

It was found during the executive session that the contractor helped City Hall through the efforts of businesswoman Mariquita Yeung.

De los Santos then said it was undertaken through the mayor’s People-Privately Driven Governance (PPDG) approach especially since after the 2013 earthquake that left the hospital “unfit for occupancy,” the mayor publicly asked for support from the private sector.

Councilor Noel Wenceslao, a Team Rama ally, earlier said he plans to present a resolution asking the Ombudsman to conduct a fact-finding investigation on the issue.

He cited commentaries and columns asking for an update about the investigation after the defection of de los Santos. Wenceslao said he was challenged by the columnists talking about the issue.

De los Santos has denied insinuations that she switched loyalties after BO-PK founder Tomas Osmeña allegedly used the scrap issue to convince her to join the BO-PK.

“It’s not true that BO-PK used that to convince me to transfer. If I’m not mistaken, there was a closure of this issue through an executive session in Dec. 2014 and seven months have passed already,” she told CDN.

“My joining BO-PK is not anchored on any condition and it’s a personal decision to accept the said invitation,” she added.

For his part, Mayor Michael Rama said an investigation by the Ombudsman will put the issue to rest.

He said the issue has already consumed a lot of space in the newspapers and so all personalities involved should have their sides heard.

De los Santos used to head the CCMC ad hoc committee which oversaw the demolition of the building in coordination with City Engr. Jose Marie Poblete.