Procurement process blamed: CCMC opening deferred anew

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City Medical Center will have to continue operating under makeshift structures at the building it is sharing with the Bureau of Fire Protection, after the city government failed to fulfill its commitment to have the new building operational next month.

Assistant City Engineer Nilo Igot announced yesterday that the opening of the new hospital building will have to be deferred for the second time. Councilor Mary Ann de los Santos, deputy mayor for health, earlier committed to have the first three floors of the 10-storey building operational last March. It did not happen.

It was moved next month to allow the contractor to finish what it needed to complete to have the hospital building operational. But, Igot said this is not going to happen either because the contractor, C.E. Padilla Construction Inc., had just started Phase 2 of the project, which covers the interior design including windows, water piping and electrical lines.

Igot said the second phase of the project is expected to be done on September 30 as provided in the contract. Phase 2 has a total contract price of P283.4 million.

The delay was attributed by Igot to the procurement procedures of government that they need to follow.

"Ang usa sa dugay mao ang bidding, ang procurement process. Kahibaw baya ta sa gobyerno, moagi gyud na og process, naa gyud na'y number of days, pananglitan ang pag-publish sa newspaper," Igot said. (The bidding and procurement process has caused the delay. We all know that in government we need to follow procedure like the number of days needed for publication)  

The City Council authorized Mayor Tomas Osmeña on February 19, 2019 to enter into and sign the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the contractor but the notice to proceed was only issued to the contractor this month.

Igot said he could not give a tentative schedule yet for the opening of the new hospital building because it will depend on the accomplishment of the contractor.

"Mag-agad ta sa accomplishment sa contractor kay ang atong implementation is by contract man. Ang amoa diri sa DEPW (Department of Engineering and Public Works) is monitoring and if sakto ba ang materyales," he said. (It will depend on the accomplishment of the contractor because the implementation is done per contract. The DEPW is only monitoring if the contractor is following the bill of materials) 

The city government, however, is holding the contractor liable for liquidated damages for the delay of the project. In fact, the city has already computed at least P3 million worth of liquidated damages or penalty against the contractor for the delay of the Phase 1, which was supposed to have been completed last December. At present, the actual accomplishment of the contractor is only 99 percent.

The first phase covers the structural framework of the building. It has a contract price of to P514.97 million. The constructed started in July 2015 and was supposed to be completed in December 2018.

But despite an earlier negative slippage, C.E. Padilla Construction Inc. still won the second phase of the project. Igot, however, explained that the contractor will be billed for the penalty, which will be deducted in its final billing to the city government upon completion of the project.

"They will be subjected to liquidated damages, they'll have to pay liquidated damages basta mosaylo sila sa atong contract time," he said.

The city hospital has been sharing building with the fire department since 2013 after its 45-year-old building along N. Bacalso Avenue and Panganiban Street was declared unsafe for occupancy following the 7.2 magnitude earthquake in October 2013.

Then mayor Michael Rama ordered the demolition of the building to give way to a more modern hospital building that is still to be completed until now. —  FPL (FREEMAN)