CCMC operation in peril from power loss

 CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City government is facing another serious problem as the operation of the city hospital may be affected as soon as the Visayan Electric Company discontinue the electric services of the Bureau of Fire Protection because of unpaid bills amounting to P1.8 million.

VECO has already sent demand notice to the BFP and gave the agency a 24-hour ultimatum to settle its seven months unpaid obligations.

“Even as we believe that your failure to pay this account may have been due to oversight, you will understand that this account is already overdue. Hence, we regret to advice that unless the amount is paid in full within 24-hour from receipt hereto, we will have no other alternative but to discontinue electric services to your premises without further notice,” read the demand letter signed by Bienvenido Saniel III, VECO billing and collection department manager.

Although the letter was dated April 28, electric servi-ces at the BFP building, where the Cebu City Medical Center is temporarily operating, continue as of yesterday.

 The BFP has a total unpaid obligations to VECO amounting to P1,849,169.70. The amount is the agency’s accumulated bills from October 2013 to April 2014.

Councilor Mary Ann delos Santos, members of the CCMC ad hoc committee, said that the hospital operations remain normal as of yesterday.

 â€œWe called up CCMC to check the veracity of the issue; the hospital has still water and power. There were no services interruptions as of the moment,” delos Santos said.

 She, however, admitted that the situation is alarming for CCMC and the city government.

“VECO is not inhuman na putlan ta og kuryente because the health services are at stake. Life and death ang naa diha. We will do everything to prevent that while we were not able to transfer/get our own meter and transformer,” she said.

 Senior Inspector Noel Nelson Ababon, BFP budget management section chief, said the fire department is hesitant to pay the bill, knowing that CCMC occupies majority of the building.

 â€œHesitant ang BFP mobayad kay di man kami ang nag-consume tanan. Majority of the facility has been utilized by CCMC. Only one-third of the facility is being used by us,” Ababon said.

In a letter addressed to CCMC chief of hospital, Dr. Gloria Duterte, Ababon informed her of the unpaid bills.

 â€œConsidering that BFP-7 is only occupying one-third of the compound, BFP will only be paying one-third or P616,389.90 of  the accumulated electricity bills,” Ababon’s letter read.

This, however, awaits the response of the city government if they are amenable to the proposal.

The budget chief explained that BFP consumed an average of P212,726 covering the months of September to September last year.

“Majority of the consumption was incurred by the Cebu City Fire Station and the Pahina Central Fire Sub-station that occupied majority of the areas of the building, which the same have been occupied by CCMC, while the BFP-7 occupies only the second floor of the building,” he added.

Prior to the notices of VECO and BFP, Duterte requested Senior Supt. Ma. Luisa Hadjula, BFP-7 director, to bill out the CCMC of its electricity and water consumption.

“The hospital, in good faith, is very much willing to comply our obligation to pay for the electricity and water consumptions,” Duterte said.

In a separate interview, Mayor Michael Rama has assured that the city government will be paying its shares.

“Wala’y problema sa power bills. It will never be a problem. I will talk and sit down with VECO. I know that they will not do that (disconnect power). Let’s not add up to the burden of our people,” Rama said.

“Money is not an issue there. There is an allocation of funds for CCMC for the entire year. It is right and fair to pay our obligation to BFP,” Delos Santos also assured.—/FPL (FREEMAN)