Outgoing Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama urges the city government not to delay the construction of the Cebu City Medical Center during a press conference yesterday. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)
INSTEAD of stalling construction of the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) the city government should just comply with the requirements of the project side by side with the construction.
Thus urged outgoing Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama saying this is a good project because it is a decent hospital for the poor.
During a press conference yesterday, Rama said the administration of Acting Mayor Margot Osmeña should help rectify whatever deficiencies the project has instead of suspending the construction works on the hospital.
Last week, Osmeña ordered the suspension of the construction of the new CCMC building by the Manila-based CE Padilla Construction effective last Monday after they discovered that the project had no building permit and business permit.
Permits
Without these permits, the construction of the CCMC is somehow not legal, thus, the need to process the necessary documents, said Osmeña.
Former Cebu City Treasurer Diwa Cuevas, however, said CCMC does not need a business permit to operate and has never been issued one by the city government precisely because it is run by the city government and is a non-profit general hospital.
The Cebu City government’s official website also quotes CCMC’s legal mandate:
“Section 1 of City Ordinance No. 1508, approved in Resolution No. 1767 in March 21, 1994 mandates that: ‘The Cebu City Government shall maintain and operate a non-profit general hospital to be henceforth known as ‘Cebu City Medical Center’ for the primary purpose of PROVIDING adequate medical care to the underprivileged sector of the City’s population, a training facility for the students of all duly DECS-accredited Medical and Para-Medical schools in Cebu City and to undertake its own training program. It shall endeavor to maintain major services in the areas of specialization that the Board may decide upon.”
Cuevas however said a building permit is necessary otherwise the building cannot be occupied.
Help
“CCMC should be helped. And should be helped by all. I wish it would not be stalled because time is of the essence to address the plight of the poor,” said Rama.
Instead of looking for faults, Rama said the city government should help rectify whatever deficiencies the hospital might have.
Rama clarified that he does not encourage constructions without permits because this is part of the regulations, but it does not mean that the city government should jeopardize the medical center.
“Finish it because it is a good project,” he said.
Rama added that he was not aware that CCMC had no building permits because it was the responsibility of the City Engineering Office and the contractor to secure these documents.
“There were a lot of project before nga mangayo building permit but ‘in process.’ So perhaps that maybe qualified ‘in process’ because I know there will always be rules for all,” he said.
Encroachment
On the issue that the CCMC building plan encroaches on an unidentified lot, Rama said the lot where the hospital will be built is the same lot where the old hospital stood.
“Was it a part of yesterday? Therefore, why make an issue today? If it is part of yesterday, then you ask the father of my predecessor (incoming Mayor Tomas Osmeña),” he added.
He said that the old CCMC was built in the same lot at the time of the late Senator Sergio Osmeña Jr.
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