Siao denies grabbing credit for hospital project

By Frank E. Dosdos, Jr.
Correspondent .

ILIGAN City — The Representative of the lone district of this city denies the local government unit grabbed credit for the improvement of the Gregorio T. Lluch Memorial Hospital with a total appropriation of P120 million from the Department of Health.

Reacting to comments on Facebook and questions of reporters here that the local government headed by Mayor Celso G. Regencia grabbed credit for the hospital project that was obtained from the Department of Health by the Congressional Representatives of Iligan, Rep. Frederick Siao said that as a matter of procedure it should be the Sangguniang Panglung-sod and the local government headed by the mayor who will pass a resolution accepting a project being turned over by an agency of the national government.

He said that his job as the representative of the people to the national government and Congress was only to exert efforts that the project be included in the programs and projects of the Department of Health, to ascertain that funds were correspondingly allocated for the same when the General Appropriations Act was passed and to oversee that the project is implemented up to completion.

It was gathered that the said project was constructed through a fund allocation of P20 million during the time of Rep. Vicente F. Belmonte and P80 Million during the term of Siao.

It was also learned that P20 million was included in the GAA for hospital equipment raising the total allocation to P120 million through the efforts of Siao.

Siao said that the people should thank the local government in accepting the project for it is really intended for the benefit of all the people of the district.

He also expressed his desire that in the future the local government would help his office by passing resolutions identifying projects beneficial to the people and asking the national government for help.