MANILA, Philippines – Lawmakers are urging President Benigno Aquino III to order the National Housing Authority (NHA) to just donate a portion of its land in Quezon City to the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) instead of insisting that the hospital pay for the property.
Seven representatives recently filed House Resolution 301 asking Aquino to issue a presidential proclamation ordering the donation, and urging their colleagues in Congress to support PCMC’s struggle to retain control of the 3.7-hectare land.
President Aquino INQUIRER PHOTO/GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
“We are determined to help PCMC, and I think with our collective effort the President will see through our best intentions for the health of our children, most especially the less fortunate,” said Leyte Rep. Martin Ferdinand Romualdez, principal author of the resolution.
The NHA has been demanding PCMC to pay P1.1 billion for the property, and has sold portions of it to other government agencies.
Earlier, the appropriations committee of the House of Representatives allocated P1.6 billion for PCMC in the proposed budget for 2015, part of which should go to the purchase of the NHA property occupied by the hospital for over 30 years.
The committee chair, Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, said the House decided to provide the funds for the purchase of the PCMC lot because the NHA had been threatening to evict the hospital.
“We can assure the hospital’s patients, their parents, staff, and other stakeholders that PCMC will stay put where it is, because we in the House give priority to our children’s and our people’s health,” Ungab said.
In a related development, Gabriela Representatives Emmi de Jesus and Luzviminda Ilagan filed House Resolution 1529 urging Aquino to immediately finalize the acquisition of the NHA land.
De Jesus noted that the PCMC had been receiving notices from the NHA demanding payment for the property and threatening eviction.
In the upper chamber, some senators have also suggested that Mr. Aquino issue a presidential proclamation giving the land to the hospital or swap a Department of Health property in Sambag, Cebu, with the PCMC lot in Quezon City.