RDC-7 endorses P800M for CCMC reconstruction

CEBU, Philippines - The Regional Development Council-7 has recently endorsed P800 million to the national government as additional funding for the reconstruction of the Cebu City Medical Center.

Bohol Governor Edgar Chatto, the newly installed chairman of  RDC-7, passed a resolution during their recent meeting in Bohol, incorporating the amount for budget appropriation.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said the amount is better than nothing. “P800 million okay na lang kay dali ma-approve kaysa sa P1 billion,” he said.

Moreover, Rama is optimistic that Filinvest Land Inc. will help the city government fund the construction of the city-run hospital, which will begin not later this month.

“I’ve been meeting them (FLI president and chief executive officer Joseph Yap and FLI chairman emeritus Andrew Gotianun Sr.) since after the earthquake. I already brought to them what had happened (to CCMC) with the end view nga they can come in to be of assistance. I was also getting gesture that they are willing to help,” Rama said.

Shortly after his State of the City Address in his second term in office Wednesday, Rama toured Gotianun Sr. and his son, Andrew Gotianun Jr., who also sits as vice chairman of FLI, to the site along N. Bacalso Avenue and Panganiban Street where a10-storey CCMC building worth P1.5 billion would soon rise.

But before the Gotianuns would commit, Rama said he will be presenting to them the audio-visual that portrays the scenarios of the 45-year-old CCMC, which sustained major damage after the magnitude 7.2 earthquake in October 15 last year.

The mayor said further that he has no idea yet how much the Gotianuns would extend for CCMC.

A groundbreaking on CCMC site is expected before July 16 and before Rama takes a vacation abroad for more than two weeks.

Apart from CCMC, Rama, together with the Gotianuns and Governor Hilario Davide III, also discussed the joint venture project between the province and FLI in Barangay Lahug, this city.

The Capitol’s joint venture involves a 1.2-hectare property in Salinas Drive in Lahug, where the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center and the Center for the Ultimate Rehabilitation of Drug Dependents used to stand.

Rama said FLI’s joint venture contract with the provincial government may spur employment opportunities for Cebunaos and would resolve, if not lessen, the unemployment dilemma in the metropolis.

“Governor Davide, Gotianun and I discussed a very important matter which is also a primordial concern of the city. I want to be of assistance…I wish parties could be cognizant. At the end of the day, cordiality and interpersonal relationship need to reign so that betterment for the city and joint venture of the province with FLI will continue to prosper,” he said.

“I don’t want to be specific kay ma pre-empt ‘nya ang among discussion. But, it was something about fencing, road and traffic problems,” the mayor added.  (FREEMAN)