THE seven-member majority in the Dagupan Sangguniang Panlungsod brushed aside accusations that they were to blame for the canceled implementation of the Mother and Child Hospital (MCH), since they passed the needed resolution authorizing Mayor Belen Fernandez to sign a memorandum of agreement for the establishment of the project with the Department of Health (DOH).

Councilor Redford Erfe-Mejia told last week’s session that their group even joined the final meeting with the city and DOH Region 1 officials that identified a government lot on Barangay Poblacion Oeste as the ideal site for the MCH, a day prior to the passage of a resolution giving the authorization on October 8, 2024.

However, he avoided any reaction to the accusation that it took him and fellow members in the majority almost three years to pass the resolution. The mayor had sought the authorization.

The P150-million fund for the project was already allocated under the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of 2022.

That final meeting in following a letter of Health Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergiere who warned that Dagupan should use the fund before it is reverted back to the national coffers.

The October 8, 2024 resolution was a basic document needed to kickstart the long process for the project construction, was hurriedly passed with only three days before the fund was to revert back to the national government.

Fernandez announced during her State of the City Address (SOCA) on March 18 that construction of the MCH has been scrapped after the DOH informed her that the budget was no longer in its possession as overseer of the fund since 2022 and was already reverted back to the national government.

As if the news from the mayor was not enough, Erfe-Mejia asked the city secretary to write a letter to the Office of the Mayor to explain to the Sanggunian why the MCH will no longer be implemented. (Leonardo Micua) 

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