Cebu City Mayor Nestor Archival said the city will act on the results of an independent assessment that engineering and architecture groups did regarding the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) project, which may lead to a realignment of its civil works.
The City Council commissioned the experts’ assessment of the CCMC project, after Councilor Nyza Archival raised concerns about transparency and accountability on the long-delayed project. The assessment findings report is expected in the first week of October.
Nyza earlier delivered a privilege speech highlighting the importance of transparency and accountability in what she described as a critical and long-overdue infrastructure project of the city.
Without preempting the experts’ report, Mayor Archival revealed he was told of discrepancies between official completion reports and the actual status of the building, noting that some phases were listed as finished on paper but remain incomplete on-site.
‘The first, second, third, fourth (phases), mura’g ang ilang gitan-aw, kung sa paper human na pero wala pa,’ said the mayor, adding that civil works may possibly be realigned, and the project constructed gradually.
Mayor Archival added that the ?700-million contract with Dakay Construction for the hospital’s remaining floors is still under review, aligned with the City Council’s move, especially since the Department of Engineering and Public Works earlier found the project lacked as-built plans.
‘Kay ang mga nahuman nga Phase 1, Phase 2 nga mga contractors, wala may as-built plans, wala man ta’y plano nga nagsulti nga mao ‘ni ang nahuman namo,’ the mayor previously said.
In response, Councilor Archival, with the Council’s approval, sought the assistance of experts from leading organizations of engineering, architecture, and related disciplines to conduct a thorough audit of the existing documents related to the CCMC project.
Specifically, the councilor called for the involvement of the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers, the Institute of Integrated Electrical Engineers of the Philippines, the Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the United Architects of the Philippines, among others.
The objectives of the audit are to scrutinize all original plans, sketches, and designs; verify architectural and engineering documents; check for irregularities, discrepancies, or post-construction alterations that may have led to misappropriation of funds; and facilitate a comprehensive review for the city’s reference in making informed decisions.
It can be recalled that, following his long-awaited review of the CCMC contract for the third to sixth floors, Mayor Archival bared that the DEPW had not located the primary construction plan for the project, prompting him to stop the construction until the missing plan is provided.
When Archival assumed office as Cebu City’s mayor, one of his campaign promises was to finish the long-delayed CCMC building.
He said that, before his administration took over the city government, the contract to complete the third to sixth floors had already been awarded to a contractor, along with the corresponding Notice to Proceed (NTP). Currently, the contractor is requesting a down payment.
However, although the Programs of Work and Estimates (POWE) were already in place, the detailed plans on which construction should be based are missing. This has raised red flags among the engineers involved in the contract review.
Going back to the time of his predecessor, then-mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia, before leaving office, named Dakay Construction as the winning bidder for the controversial CCMC project, despite an unfinished City Council investigation into the project’s delays and issues.
Garcia signed the contract with Dakay, which allows for a 240-calendar-day construction period, equivalent to eight months. He clarified that the agreement covers only the third to seventh floors, and that completing the remaining upper floors would require a separate contract-one he intended to leave to the incoming administration, Archival’s for that matter.
The project’s budget is approximately ?700 million, an amount left over from the previous construction before it was halted. Garcia also clarified that the inclusion of the seventh floor involves applying the final touches.