CCMC donations now over P15M with Netherlands aid

CEBU, Philippines - Over five months after City Hall launched its “Piso Mo, Hospital Ko” campaign, donations for the construction of a new Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) building has now reached around P15.18 million.

It is still a long way to go, however, because the projected cost for the new hospital is around P1.3 billion.

Mayor Michael Rama yesterday announced that donations have so far totaled P13.6 million and $36,000 (P1.58 million using an exchange rate of P44 to a dollar).

The 13.6 million includes the P1-million donation from Vriendschapshand of Haarlemmermeer, Netherlands and around P70,000 from Elizabeth Hotel Cebu.

Henk Koning, Vriendschapshand Haarlemmermeer-Cebu president and Elizabeth Hotel Chief Executive Officer Elizabeth Fernando, handed their respective donations to Rama yesterday.

“The disaster (magnitude 7.1 earthquake) was enormous. We want to help because Cebu is our sister city,” Koning told reporters.

He said the people of Haarlemmermeer took part in raising funds to “acquire medicines and equipment for CCMC,” whose building was declared unsafe for occupancy following the powerful earthquake last year.

After visiting City Hall, Vriendschapshand officials went to the Guba Community Hospital in the mountains of the north district to see how they can help.

“We want to see what we could extend,” Koning said. 

Yesterday, the mayor also said that his cousin Chandran Rama has pledged to donate P5 million to help finance the city-run hospital. (FREEMAN)