Bacolod City Mayor Evelio “Bing” Leonardia said yesterday that Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri told him that, in addition to the P600 million initially provided for the creation of the Bacolod City General Hospital, he will find other sources, starting with an allocation of P200 million to augment its budget.
Zubiri filed the counterpart bill in Senate for the creation of the BCGH, that was signed into law as Republic Act 11564, by President Rodrigo Duterte on June 24.
Zubiri said it was Senator Franklin Drilon who initiated the move to provide funding for all the 13 new hospitals approved by Duterte.
GODFATHER
Leonardia said “Sen. Migz is really living up to our billing that he is the ‘Godfather of Bacolod City’.”
The mayor noted that Zubiri’s desire to help Bacolod City was a decisive factor after Congressman Greg Gasataya sponsored the bill and it was approved in the House of Representatives.
“Sen. Migz agreed that this bill for which he joined hands with Congressman Greg is even made more significant because this was one of the 2019 campaign promises of the Grupo Progreso,” Leonardia said in a statement.
He said he personally called Zubiri to thank him again for his sponsorship of the bill in the Senate creating the BCGH. “I also explained to him my predicament why I was not able to attend the signing ceremony in Malacañang.”
“As I had earlier suggested to Sen. Migz, while the bill was still in the legislative process in the Senate, I reiterated my request for his assistance to explore other ways to enhance the financial feasibility of the hospital once it gets operational.
“I appealed to him that it would be best to get the most financial help we could from the national government, considering that the local budget of the City could be substantially affected by the operation of this hospital.
“With his P265-million Bacolod Museum project and his P20-million assistance for our parks, Sen. Migz is really living up to our billing that he is the ‘Godfather of Bacolod City’,” Leonardia added.*
