CLARK FREEPORT -- Clark International Airport Corporation Vice- President Reynaldo Catacutan said that Capas Mayor Antonio "TJ" was lying when he announced that the hospital at the O' Donnell resettlement in Barangay Cristo Rey has been completed and is now ready for occupancy.
During a press conference here yesterday, Catacutan showed newsmen photographs of the building including its facilities in what he described as unserviceable based also on the findings of the Commission on Audit (COA).
The Municipal Government spent P1-million for the rehabilitation of the hospital, according to Catacutan, a former mayor of Capas and planning to seek again the position in next year’s polls.
"We are just wondering why the hospital is still in such a sorry state when the municipal government has already spent at least P1-million for its supposed rehabilitation," he said.
"The hospital itself is not ready. TJ is lying to the people. That is why I reported this to the COA so that they could also investigate reports that some anti-biotic medicines have just gone into waste," Catacutan stated.
He said the medicines were donated last year by the Good People International (GPI), a Korean non-government organization, which has been supporting humanitarian projects in various parts of Pampanga and Tarlac.
Catacutan also assailed Rodriguez for releasing false reports to the media about a morgue building in the said resettlement the former mayor presently occupies.
Rodriguez directed Catacutan to vacate and turn over the building which will form part of the community hospital.
Catacutan clarified that he plans to convert the abandoned building into a pharmacy and not a rest house as stated by the mayor.
“It is going to be a barangay pharmacy, not a rest house. Mapapatunayan po ng mga residente sa O’ Donnell na kahit isang araw sa nakalipas na 12 taon ay hindi po ako tumira sa building na sana ay gagawing morge,” he said.
Aside from these, Catacutan disclosed that the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and the Pinatubo Project Management Office (PPMO) had authorized him to occupy and renovate the building.
Catacutan said he spent P350,000 for the renovation of the building since 2002. He disclosed that he will only vacate the building if Rodriguez reimbursed him the amount.
The CIAC official also said that he is not bothered by a civil case filed by the former officials of Barangay Cristo Rey --- Chairman Rolando De Leon and Councilman Benjamin C. Pabustan --- regarding his alleged illegal occupancy of the morgue building.
“The barangay officials who filed the case have already signed an affidavit of desistance last year,” Catacutan said.
Rodriguez, according to Catacutan, is just trying to create a “political drama” to conceal irregularities in the construction of the hospital and other issues.
Catacutan said he recently filed graft charges before the Office of the Ombudsman against Rodriguez in connection with the construction of several covered courts in Capas and the neighboring town of Bamban.