IN THE NICK OF TIME: Days before Garcia leaves office, contractor chosen to finish CCMC

Local

WITH just days left in office, outgoing Cebu City Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia made a final push to advance the long-delayed Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC).

Garcia announced on Friday, June 27, that the P700-million Phase 5 contract has been awarded to Dakay Construction and Development Corp., with a completion timeline of 240 calendar days.

Garcia said the contract, already signed, covers the construction of the hospital’s third to fifth floors.

“Well, Dakay ang atong na-awardan sa atong pagtiwas sa CCMC. And base sa contract, nakabutang 240 calendar days. That’s already been signed. Mahuman na gyud ang CCMC,” he said.

The mayor emphasized that construction must start immediately, as the countdown toward the eight-month completion period has already begun.

The announcement comes just three days before Mayor-elect Nestor Archival Sr. is sworn in on June 30. It also answers long-standing public clamor for a clear, tangible step forward in finishing the government hospital, an issue that has haunted four city administrations since the facility’s reconstruction began in 2015.

“Gipermahan naman ang contract… in 240 calendar days, this will be finished,” Garcia said.

The funds come from “leftover” savings of a P1-billion budget previously awarded to M.E. Sicat Construction during the late Mayor Edgardo Labella’s term. That contract was terminated in 2022 due to prolonged delays, leaving P700 million in city coffers.

In 2024, the City Council questioned reports of supposed construction activities at the site, even though no new contract had been bid out.

Councilor Mary Ann delos Santos, along with other officials, raised concerns over the presence of Dakay Construction on-site. Conflicting statements from the project engineer and the engineering department only deepened the uncertainty.

Some officials said only “preparatory works” were ongoing, including the installation of tower cranes, but no contract had yet been signed—until now.

According to earlier statements from Councilor Jerry Guardo, chair of the infrastructure committee, Phase 5 is expected to complete the third floor and construct the fourth, fifth, and portions of the sixth and seventh floors.

“Once ma-bid out ni siya, this will complete a portion of the third floor, complete the fourth floor level, fifth, sixth, including a portion of the seventh floor,” Guardo said.

He noted that the installation of elevators is a priority to ensure vertical access within the building, which currently operates with only three functional floors. Patients currently struggle with mobility due to the lack of working lifts.

The fourth floor is planned to house the operating and delivery room complex, the fifth floor will serve as the ICU wing, including pediatric intensive care, and the sixth and seventh floors are earmarked for administrative offices and special programs like Operation Smile and an eye institute.

As for the final three floors, eighth to tenth, these are not included in the Phase 5 contract. In 2023, then-Mayor Michael Rama claimed private donors had pledged nearly P1 billion for the upper floors’ construction, to be channeled through the Cebu Medical Society (CMS).

So far, CMS President Dr. Peter Mancao said only P205 million has been collected, with funds still pending due to the absence of a finalized trust agreement.

The CCMC reconstruction has spanned nearly a decade and cost at least P2 billion to date, yet remains unfinished.

Originally launched in 2015 during Rama’s second term to replace the hospital destroyed in the 2013 earthquake, it has since become one of Cebu City’s most politically sensitive infrastructure projects.(TGP)