ALTHOUGH there are still unfinished floors at the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC), Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama is now looking forward to opening more centers in the public hospital at no cost to the city.
On Tuesday, April 11, 2023, Rama said once all the levels of CCMC will be completed, one side of the hospital will be allocated for the medical arts, wellness, diabetes, and cancer centers.
The CCMC is envisioned to be 10 stories high, but the top three floors have yet to be built.
Rama assured that the construction of the CCMC will be completed but that City Hall will not spend further for the hospital’s completion.
“I don’t even think about the budget. Nothing should be spent from the City Hall coffers to finish the whole thing,” Rama told reporters.
Rama is optimistic that the construction of the hospital will be completed with the help of the private sector.
Private companies and a group of Chinese businessmen have pledged to donate close to a billion pesos to the City in order to complete the construction of CCMC’s eighth to 10th floors.
These private firms are the SM Group, Ayala Group, Robinsons Group and Filinvest Group.
Last January, Rama terminated the P907 million contract the City signed with the M.E. Sicat Construction joint venture with Avecs Corp. on April 6, 2022 for the construction of Phase 4 of the CCMC, which involved the building of the eighth to 10th floors, citing the loss of his patience over delays in the construction.
However, on Rama’s orders, work on the building was stopped much earlier, last Nov. 10, or just seven months into the 19-month contract.
The first CCMC building was demolished after it sustained heavy damage during the 2013 earthquake.
The work on the new CCMC building started in 2015 and remains unfinished nearly eight years later.
Since the start of the construction, four contractors have already worked with the City to complete the hospital—C.E. Padilla Construction Inc. for Phases 1 and 2; Charlz Construction for Phase 1.1; C.B. Garay Philwide Builders for Phase 3; and M.E. Sicat Construction Inc. for Phase 4.
Last month, Jerone Castillo, special assistant to Rama on special projects, said they could not yet continue the construction of the CCMC because of “unresolved issues” with the first two contractors.
These “unresolved issues” refer to the unpaid variation orders worth P40 million for C.E. Padilla and P20 million for C.B. Garay. A variation order refers to any change to the scope of work, planning and specification or contract documents.
As of November 2022, the City had already spent almost P2 billion for the construction of the new CCMC building.