PB may give P1M for 2 towns’ hospital aid

THE Cebu Provincial Board (PB) is studying a proposal to set aside P1 million for the Mandaue City Hospital to serve residents of Consolacion and Cordova towns, both in the sixth district.

In a previously approved resolution, PB Member Arleigh Sitoy, a former Cordova mayor, requested Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes to allow the Mandaue City Hospital to accept patients from the two towns.

Sitoy, who now represents the sixth district in the PB, asked that Consolacion and Cordova residents be accorded the same medical and health care benefits in the hospital, as the Mandaue City residents.

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In the latest PB session, Sitoy sponsored an ordinance appropriating P1 million for the city hospital to cover the cost of medicines and services for indigent patients from Cordova and Consolacion.

The ordinance was passed on first reading, but still has to undergo second and third readings.

Sitoy said he recognizes that Mandaue City will prioritize its constituents in terms of giving medical assistance.

But in the resolution, he quoted the 1987 Constitution, which says it is the right of the people to enjoy a decent standard of health. The State is mandated to provide essential goods, health and other social services to the underprivileged, sick, elderly, disabled, women and children.

Since local government units (LGUs) were given autonomy through the Local Government Code of 1991, the responsibility was devolved to the LGUs.

“The proximity of the Mandaue City Hospital to Cordova and Consolacion is ideally convenient and beneficial to the constituents of both municipalities,” the resolution read.

The three areas make up the sixth district, after Lapu-Lapu City became a highly urbanized city and a district on its own.

Lapu-Lapu City used to have a Capitol-operated district hospital but operations were turned over to the Lapu-Lapu City Government in 2008.

“It is incumbent upon the Cebu Provincial Government to look for ways to address the medical and health needs of the constituents of the district, while establishment of a district hospital in the sixth district has yet to be realized and implemented,” the PB resolution also read. (JGA)