Health secretary ‘Ted’ Herbosa and Marikina City mayor ‘Maan’ Teodoro.
Amidst the ongoing probe on the anomalous flood control projects involving substandard and ‘ghost’ construction of infrastructures, the Department of Health (DOH) has revealed that out of the 600 super health centers funded nationwide, 297 have not been built or completed.
According to health secretary Teodoro ‘Ted’ Herbosa, based on their investigation, some of the said health centers were completed, while some were in different phases of completion.
“When we investigated, some were completed only on paper, others were stuck in Phase 1—just foundations covered in weeds. So, after investigating, we have 297 non-operational or non-functional super health centers funded since 2021,” Herbosa revealed.
Specifying that a super health center can be constructed in a span of two years, the health chief cited that these facilities, which were started in 2021, are designed to decongest hospitals and to provide accessible health care at the community level.
During inspection in one of them in Marikina known as the Concepcion Dos Super Health Center in Marikina, Herbosa revealed that the project should have started in 2022, but it was only in 2023 that its first phase began.
“According to the billboard, it started Dec.15, 2023. So it should have been completed,” he noted during the inspection, implying that only Phase 1, or its foundation, has been completed.
The two-story health center was initially funded at P11.5 million in 2022, but the Marikina local government unit (LGU) later modified the design to a four-story building with a birthing center, leading to additional funding and project delays.
“The LGU decided to expand it, so they took funds from other Super Health Centers to cover the new design. The total funding reached P21.4 million, but what’s been built is still only the foundation,” Herbosa said.
However, the Marikina city government debunked the health secretary’s claims, saying the city completed all works covered by the funds released by the DoH.
Marikina City mayor Marjorie Ann ‘Maan’ Teodoro said the project’s delay was due to the health department’s failure to provide the remaining funds needed for the succeeding construction phases.
“The facts are clear. The funds released by the DOH were only for the first phase of construction. It is therefore false to claim that the entire facility could have been completed with such limited funds,” Teodoro pointed out.
She added that the city government had finished the entire first phase—covering foundation and structural works—as certified by the DoH itself.
In ending, she asserted Marikina has decided to use its own local funds to continue the project to ensure that residents receive the quality health care services they rightfully deserve.
“DoH should not mislead the people about the truth. When they release funds, it should be complete. The public suffers because of what DOH is doing,” she asserted.