WHAT could be so very wrong and suspicious about the establishment of a Maternal and Children Hospital in Dagupan City that the majority bloc in the Sangguniang Panlungsod believes it does not deserve the highest priority consideration and rejected to endorse it, a situation that could ultimately lead to its being blocked.

While any sanggunian in the country would rush the endorsement of such a basic and essential public health service, it is apparently not the case for Councilors Marilou Fernandez, Red Erfe-Mejia, Dada Reyna-Macalanda, Alfie Fernandez, Celia Lim, Irene Lim and Alvin Coquia. They obviously view the project simply as another political opportunity to regain their perceived lost stranglehold on the executive department.

The reasons that the health committee chairman, Councilor Marilou Fernandez, cited to hold more committee hearings smack of the same obstructions applied in their failed efforts to block the approval of the 2023 annual budget.  They are out to lead the city government officials by the nose to their pointless committee hearings, demanding senseless, irrelevant justifications.

The seven councilors are even oblivious to the fact that the hospital project was initiated by the Department of Health, confident that the hospital will benefit thousands of underprivileged Dagupeños. They are well aware that if the Dagupan City government doesn’t give the establishment of the hospital the priority it deserves, DOH can very well shift the funds to another city that wants it badly. But the majority bloc is showing it couldn’t care less.

The seven councilors continue to be clearly motivated by their mission to thwart and impede policies that would generate goodwill for the Belen Fernandez administration.

In fact, Dagupeños will no longer be surprised if Councilor Marilou Fernandez will also require the mayor’s presence in her committee hearings for a chance to humiliate her and her office, then blame her expected refusal to comply as the reason for the subsequent loss of the hospital project.

Hence, the demand of the committee to hold more hearings can only be viewed as stinging slap on the faces of prospective mothers and their children who sorely need the hospital intended for them.

To block the passage of an annual budget may be viewed merely as a ploy in a political power play but to block the establishment of a maternal and children’s hospital deserves the condemnation of every Dagupeño, including the majority bloc’s political allies.

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