Mother-Child Hospital as good as scrapped
SP MAJORITY INSISTS ON LTO LAND
THE majority bloc in the Dagupan Sangguniang Panlungsod finally gave the green light for the construction of the P150 million Mother and Child Hospital, but on condition that the Department of Health (DOH) makes the project not feasible.
City Legal Officer Aurora Valle said the condition incorporated by the majority councilors in the resolution they passed last September 24 is the construction of the hospital on a portion of the lot vacated by the Land Transportation Office in Poblacion Oeste along A.B. Fernandez West, which has been verified by authorities as only 850 sqm and not 10,000-sqm property.
“With that condition, DOH cannot implement the project because it will make it very, very hard for the agency to implement, ” Valle said in a talk over SMNI Radio.
Nagbigay nga sila ng resolusyon, Pero nagbigay naman ng condition na hindi mo magagamit ang resolusyon,” she said.
She added that the city council majority exceeded its authority in passing the resolution by appointing a site for the MCH when the DOH only sought a resolution authorizing Mayor Belen Fernandez to sign a Memorandum of Agreement with DOH Regional Director Paula Paz Sydiongco for the facility.
In designating a specific project site, the council majority effectively rejected the use of the land donated by the mayor’s family along the Jose de Venecia Expressway in Barangay Pantal.
The approved Resolution No. R-6423, reads: “manifesting acquiescence and support to the construction of the proposed Maternity and Children’s Hospital in Dagupan City, qualified and conditioned on its erection on a city government-owned or controlled property and not on any property donated by the incumbent local chief executive or any public official, and or their families, in faithful conformity with sound principles of public accountability, good governance, lawful and efficient utilization of public funds, non-appropriation of public funds for private benefit and purposes, and anti-graft and corrupt practices”.
Valle, however, said, “The DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) will never, ever allow the LGU or any government agency to build up a stricture, especially for a hospital, under a bridge under its jurisdiction.”
With the approved resolution and its terms, it is now likely that the P150 million made available to Dagupan by DOH will revert back to the national coffers. (Leonardo Micua)
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