No insurance claims yet for City buildings

CEBU, Philippines - Almost two months after the magnitude 7.1 earthquake ruined hundreds of structures and properties, the Cebu City Government is yet to claim the insurance for four city-owned buildings.

General Service Office (GSO) Chief Rolando Ardoza said they are still processing pertinent documents.

He said they have yet to give a program of works and estimates to the insurance adjuster of the damaged structures of the 52-year-old Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC), Pasil Fish Market, Cultural and Historical Affairs (CHAC), and the Cebu City Legislative building.

In particular, the CCMC cost the City P7millio to construct.

“Clearly magtan-aw ta unsa atong ma-claim. We have to declare the old building sa CCMC nga totally damaged and get the (insurance) money,” said City Council Majority Floor Leader Margarita Osmeña.

CCMC Director Gloria Duterte said they have paid P21,000 in insurance coverage this year to the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).

Osmena said funds derived from the insurance claim would serve as “seed money” for the construction of the new city hospital.

However, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama is yet to decide where to construct the new hospital. He is eyeing either at South Road Properties (SRP) or in the area where the old building currently stands.

Ardoza said that based on insurance guidelines “two percent of the building cost will be paid by the insurance company if the property is damaged”.

City Councilor Sisinio Andales said more than P300 million was already used during several renovations and developments of the old hospital building.

Ardoza said they have yet to update their “log book” on the renovations of the facility, especially that the City would just be getting two percent of the total cost of P7 million, or just P140,000.

Osmena asked Duterte if there was a directive coming from the mayor to claim the insurance, to which the latter replied that they did not.

“Also, I didn’t think about it because we purely rely on the GSO to process the insurance”, Duterte said.

Meanwhile, the City Council has agreed to “centralize” the appropriation of funds for office supplies, janitorial services and security under the GSO, except for special accounts like that on CCMC.

Osmena said that to avoid duplication and to establish proper organization of the proposed 2014 annual budget, every department, special body, program and project under the Office of the Mayor must incorporate the said items to each of their projected budgets.

She reiterated this because the departments are supposed to be assuring the needs of their offices.

“Nanigurado og double lang ang mga departments,”she said. (FREEMAN)