The local government of Marikina City on Wednesday refuted claims of the Department of Health (DOH) that the city’s super health center should have been completed already, emphasizing that the agency failed to provide additional funding to finish its construction.
This statement came after the DOH inspected Concepcion Dos Super Health Center in the city.
Upon inspection, Herbosa revealed that the facility is one of the 297 super health centers across the country which he said are ‘non-functional or non-operational.’
Herbosa also said that the phase one of the project, which constructed the foundation, was allocated a P21.5 million budget. He noted that the construction of phase one began in December 2023 and was completed in April 2024.
The DOH also said that with the modifications of plans, from a two-story building to a four-story with a rooftop, there would be a need for an additional P180 million funding to complete the building aside from the P21.5 million.
With this, the DOH said that based on its study, a medium-sized health center could have been built with an amount of P12 million.
However, the Marikina LGU said in a statement that it is ‘misleading and irresponsible for the DOH to claim that the entire facility could have been finished using such limited funds.’
The LGU noted that the funds released by the DOH only covered the first phase, which was already completed and certified by the DOH itself.
‘Despite follow-ups from the City, no additional funding for the succeeding phases has ever been released by the DOH,’ the LGU added.
The LGU also stressed that the construction delay ‘does not lie with the city alone. It lies with the DOH’s failure to provide full project funding.’
With this, the LGU said that it decided to continue construction of the project using local funds to ensure quality medical care for its residents.
Meanwhile, Herbosa said that the construction of phase two could not commence as the ‘as built’ plan could not be turned over by the constructor of the first phase to the second one.
Herbosa noted that the plan, or an illustration of what was already constructed, is important to identify what should be built on top of the finished structure. /cb