MAYOR Raymond Alvin Garcia has urged private individuals and entities who withdrew more than P200 million in pledges and donations intended for the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) to instead donate to the City Government or assist in procuring medical equipment.
“If they withdrew, then I hope they will donate it now to the City Government para magamit namo ang kuwarta sa pagpahuman sa (so we can use the money for the completion of) CCMC,” Garcia said during a media forum on Wednesday, May 7, 2025.
“If they do not want to donate directly to the City, I am hoping that they will just buy equipment for the CCMC,” he added.
Garcia assured that the withdrawal would not delay the completion of the CCMC.
The mayor is set to sign the contract for the completion of the fourth, fifth and sixth floors of the public hospital, whose original building was damaged by an earthquake in 2013. The new CCMC, located along N. Bacalso Ave., will have 10 stories.
Garcia asked for clarity why the donors decided to channel the funds to the Cebu Medical Society (CMS), which is not a government entity.
He previously urged the donors to channel the funds through the City Treasurer’s Office to ensure “clear accountability of funds” instead of using a third party.
SunStar Cebu reported in November 2024 that CMS received P205 million intended to fund the construction of the structural framework for CCMC’s eighth to tenth floors.
The parties agreed that the funds would only be disbursed if a trust fund agreement was reached between the CMS, private donors and the City Government.
In December 2023, then-mayor Michael Rama announced that the completion of the CCMC’s eighth, ninth and tenth floors would be done through pledges from donors without disbursing public funds. He said he had gathered at least P1 billion in pledges from private donors.
Rama earlier said that political reasons caused the donors to retract their pledges.
A May 1, 2025 report stated that a friend of Rama rescinded a P100 million donation, a foundation withdrew its P100 million donation, and a private entity canceled its P20 million pledge.
As for Garcia, he said he plans to ask Rama for the names of the donors so he can personally reach out.
“If they have the pure intention to help the City of Cebu, especially the CCMC, show me the names so that I can talk to them and I can help them where they can help,” he said.
Garcia became acting mayor in May 2024 after the Ombudsman’s preventive suspension of Rama and seven other city officials over allegations of grave misconduct and non-payment of salaries to city hall employees for 10 months. He became full-fledged mayor after the Ombudsman found Rama guilty of nepotism and grave misconduct in September 2024 for appointing his wife’s brothers as casual employees in City Hall, violating civil service laws.
Bidding
Garcia also said on Wednesday that he will sign the construction contract for the upper floors after the national and local elections on May 12.
The mayor did not disclose the winning bidder yet.
“Naa na’y lowest bidder, but the lowest bidder is not necessarily the winning contractor because they will have to do post-qualification if the lowest bidder had complied with the requirements under the procurement law,” Garcia said.
The City will spend P700 million in savings for the fourth, fifth and sixth floors.
In November 2022, Rama cancelled the P900 million contract of M.E. Sicat Construction, the contractor working on the seventh to 10th floors of the CCMC, due to several delays in the project.
The contract’s termination led to accumulated savings of almost P700 million for the City Government.
Last March, the council also approved the additional P210 million budget intended for the last remaining floors. / JPS