Minority asserts LTO land unsuitable for MCH
COUNCILOR Jeslito Seen, a member of the minority bloc, said the majority councilors’ insistence on building the Mother and Child Hospital (MCH) at the former Land Transportation Office (LTO) office is “simply unreasonable” and not viable since the area occupied by LTO that will revert back to the city government is only 850 sqm.
He said this was confirmed by City Assessor Roland Suni earlier and LTO has not vacated the compound as evidenced by the 24/7 security guards deployed at the property.
He added that the Department of Public Works and Highways will not allow the construction of a hospital under the bridge at the site because it could weaken the foundation of the new Pantal Bridge.
“We don’t know how that hospital will fit into the limited area suggested by the majority bloc, unless it extends up to the Pantal River,” Seen said, and challenged the majority to draw a sketch plan on how the hospital will fit in the limited area it pinpointed.
In its resolution, the seven majority councilors again emphasized that the MCH was a vision of the late Mayor Benjamin Lim and his son, former Mayor Brian Lim, initiated and eventually secured funding for its construction through the assistance of Senator Bong Go. The project was allocated P150 million from the national budget under then President Rodrigo Duterte.
However, that P150 million fund may now likely be reverted to the national treasury since the Department of Health and the Department of Budget and Management have given the Dagupan City government only until the end of the year to avail of the fund.
The majority’s resolution further stated that using the property donated by the family of Mayor Belen Fernandez as site of the MCH “smacks of conflict of interest and pecuniary benefit both from public funding for site development and a corresponding increase in valuation due to use and improvement, an ethical and legal issue, that was already raised even it was first donated as site for a new city hall.”
In rebutting the allegation of the majority, Seen said the claim is without basis.
Councilor and Minority Floor Leader Michael Fernandez had wanted to ask the mayor to again speak during the plenary session of the Sanggunian to rebut, the claim in the resolution but the majority passed the resolution without hearing her side and the side of the department heads. (Leonardo Micua)
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