EDITORIAL - A foolish, ridiculous proposal

There is a proposal encouraging senior citizens in Cebu City to donate at least P2,000 from their annual financial assistance from the city government for the construction of the new Cebu City Medical Center.  

No less than Mayor Michael Rama welcomed the move, proposed by Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs head Rolando Llaguno as the elders' contribution to speed up the construction of a new CCMC building, as the old one was demolished after rendered unfit for occupancy by last year's powerful earthquake.

At first glance, there's certainly nothing wrong with Llaguno's proposal because the first to benefit from an early rehabilitation of the city hospital are the city's senior citizens themselves.

We all know that the CCMC, which is now using a portion of the property occupied by the fire department, is currently running on a limited capacity while the construction of its new building is ongoing. Therefore, elderly patients are now forced to compete with those with emergency cases.

However, the proposal calling on the city elders to donate a portion of their financial assistance from the City Hall to help in the city hospital's rehabilitation can also be seen as a desperate move by the Rama administration amid the mounting pressure to speed up the reconstruction.

While it is not compulsory, having the elders help in the city hospital rehabilitation financially would simply create a perception that the city government is now running out of sources for funding. Although the proposal's intention is understandable, many could not just avoid thinking it as a foolish idea.

City Hall had already tried different ways to solicit funds for the CCMC. From encouraging city residents in its "Piso" drive to whipping up Cebuanos based overseas, the city government's campaign has been in full swing hoping to muster enough funds for the city hospital's reconstruction.

Now here comes the latest city government's campaign, which is to stir up elders' support for the CCMC rehab. And since a stiff opposition from our senior citizens is expected, we can only see blood pressures to shoot up in the bid to bring down such ridiculous proposal.