DESPITE “cutting ties” with Bacolod Congressman Greg Gasataya, Mayor Evelio Leonardia has assured the public that it will not affect the construction of the city’s hospital.
Leonardia said they will work for it regardless of the political circumstances.
“We will continue [with] the project because [some members of] this group, Grupo Progreso (GP), were the signatories of the proposition [for the construction of the hospital],” Leonardia said.
He said the construction of the Bacolod City General Hospital was included in the platform of the government of GP in 2019.
The mayor said City Legal Officer Joselito Bayatan is working on the process to find a site where the Bacolod City General Hospital will be constructed.
Leonardia added that they are trying to get a bigger lot that will not just be for the hospital alone but for the transfer of the City Health Office (CHO), which they visualize to be a health center with essential facilities like dialysis facility, among others.
He said the current CHO building is too small for the size of Bacolod.
On June 24, 2021, President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law Republic Acct 11564, creating the Bacolod City General Hospital and appropriating funds for its establishment.
Gasataya authored the House bill at the House of Representatives while its counterpart in the Senate was sponsored by Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri.
On Friday afternoon, Leonardia, chair of GP, along with reelectionist Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran and their councilors for the 2022 elections dropped Gasataya from the slate after declaring him as “not neutral at all.”
The mayor also stated that they are open to other alliances.