Funds coming in for new hospital

CEBU, Philippines - Donations are starting to arrive for the construction of a new Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) building after Mayor Michael Rama’s “Piso Mo Hospital Ko” fund-raising campaign was launched at Plaza Sugbo yesterday.

During the launching, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano gave P101,000 while Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte gave P500,000.

Cayetano also said that Taguig City, where his wife is the mayor, would also give P5 million for CCMC.

He said they would also ask the people of Taguig to help Cebu, adding that his sister, Sen. Pia Cayetano, also pledged to donate.

Cayetano dropped his donation in an empty water container that served as makeshift deposit box along with donations made by Rama, some city Councilors, city hall employees, and all City department heads.

City Councilor Mary Ann Delos Santos, whom Rama assigned to handle hospital affairs as an executive function, said the campaign was conceptualized after the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that struck Cebu and Bohol exactly a week ago rendered the current building unsafe for further use.

“It is the resiliency and heroism which I see in you that makes me realize that if we work as one, we can see the window of opportunity that nature has opened for us. The opportunity I am referring to is the opportunity to build a new CCMC; one that is safe, modern yet one which is affordable and will cater to the needs of the poor and underprivileged,” she said.

The City Treasurer’s Office employees alone managed to raise close to P140,000 for the campaign.

Duterte, on the other hand, handed to Rama a P0.5-million check at the Cebu City mayor’s office, initially as calamity aid.

 Rama requested Duterte that the amount would instead be used for the construction of the new hospital.

In a speech, Cayetano said Cebu deserves to have a world class hospital built by the money of its own people.

“Ngayon na dumadaan kayo sa kalamidad, it is time to pay you back. I believe you deserve to have a world-class hospital,” he said.

“I am very eager to see a new hospital because it would be the first hospital that is really built by the people through volunteerism,” he added.

He said that if just one million of the almost 100 Filipinos would give P1,000 each for the CCMC, Cebu would already be able to raise P1 billion.

Rama earlier said around P1.5 billion is needed to build a 1000-room hospital.

De los Santos also said that if everyone would cooperate, having a new hospital would really become a reality.

“I believe we can do so much to make that dream a reality, by joining hand and hid the call for unity. Let us breathe life back to the CCMC,” she said.

Rama requested those who want to help rebuild CCMC to drop by any Banco de Oro branches and deposit the money in account number 0026800-7933 under the name “City of Cebu-Trust Fund”.

He also asked the public to donate empty water containers that would serve as deposit boxes for the fund-raising campaign by giving them to the Public Information Office at City Hall.  (FREEMAN)