DOH, Marikina City LGU clash over ‘unfinished’ health center

The Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday raised concerns over the construction status of a health center in Marikina, making remarks that the city government said were “misleading.”

A video posted by DOH shows Health Secretary Ted Herbosa and department officials visiting the site where they said Phase 1 of the Conception Dos Super Health Center in Marikina City was supposed to have been completed, and finding a lot with the foundations for the structure overgrown with vegetation.

The health center was said to have been funded with P21.4 million from the DOH budget.

“In our investigation, initially it was funded for P11.5 million in 2022 for Phase 1, which is the foundation for a two-storey facility. Pero nagbago yung gusto ng local government, gusto gawing four-storey, so kumuha ng funds from other super health center at nilipat dito at naging P21.4 million. 'Yun yung nakasulat na funded. It was started in 2023 and apparently it was just Phase 1. Phase 1 is the foundation for a four-storey facility. So this is P21 million of your taxes,” said Herbosa.

(The local government changed its mind and wanted a four-storey facility instead, so funds meant for other super health centers were transferred to this one, raising its cost to P21.4 million. That's how it's listed.)

PANOORIN: 297 na hindi gumaganang Super Health Center, nadiskubre ng DOH; Super Health Center sa Marikina, nadiskubre na wala pang gusali. | via Mark Makalalad, DZBB/GMA Integrated News

Pinabulaanan naman ito ng Marikina LGU at sinabi na isa itong "misleading and irresponsible… pic.twitter.com/ty71yKYIGi

— GMA Integrated News (@gmanews) October 15, 2025

“At hanggang ngayon 2025 na, matatapos na ang 2025, di parin siya nagseserbisyo sa kalusugan,” he added.

(And now it's 2025, and 2025 is ending, and it is still not serving the public's health.)

DOH said that the first phase of the completion was under the leadership of the local government, who was the party that requested modifications. He added that the contractor for the next phase couldn't start because phase one had not been turned over.

“Naumpisahan lang siya, [It was only begun in] December of 2023. Nakita niyo yung datos doon [You saw the plans for it then, it] was supposed to be completed in 120 days. Now, Phase 2 couldn't be made because the original contractor has not turned over the as-built, kung ano yung ginawa niya [whatever he had completed] to the next one. Kasi hinihingi yun ng contractor na pangalawa para matayo na niya yung next phase…This was transferred to the local government. So local government unit ng Marikina, the city of Marikina, ang pera dinownload sa LGU. Sila ang nag-implement, sila ang nagkuha ng bidding, sila ang nag-procure,” he said.

(The funds were downloaded to the local government of Marikina. They are the ones who implemented, they carried out the bidding, they did the procurement.) 

“Siguro kasi 2024 pa ito natapos… kasi kung April 2024 yung completion ng phase one, dumami na itong halaman kasi 2025 na eh. October 2025 na,” he criticized.

(Probably because April 2024 is the completion of phase one, the vegetation has grown over it because it's already October 2025.)

The health secretary said the other 297 alleged superhealth centers were declared to have been completed or in different phases of completion but were not operational.

Marikina LGU responds

Marikina said the DOH did not provide full funding

In a statement on Wednesday, the city government said that DOH’s claims were “misleading and irresponsible,” and that their statements “distorts the facts.”

Mayor Maan Teodoro said that the city government had already completed the first phase of the project, which was the foundation and structural work, with certification from DOH.

“'Wag sanang iligaw ng DOH ang taumbayan sa katotohanan. Kapag nagbigay sila ng pondo, dapat buo na. Kawawa ang tao sa ginagawa ng DOH… The funds released by the DOH were only for the first phase of construction. It is therefore false to claim that the entire facility could have been completed with such limited funds,” she said.

(DOH should not make the public lose sight of the truth. When they give funds, they should give it in full. The public suffers because of what DOH did.)

Teodoro stressed that delays in the project stemmed from DOH’s lack of additional funding to finish the project following their request for P180 million additional funds to finish the project.

Due to DOH’s alleged lack of funding, Marikina said that they decided to finish the health center using local funds instead.

“Natapos naman po talaga ng city.  Wala pong tinatago ang city dito. Kaya po kami nag-request [ng pondo], pero wala pong binibigay. Kulang po yung pondo,” said Marikina City Administrator Dr. Mark Castro.

(The city finished it. The city is not hiding anything. That is why we requested funds, but we were not given any. The funds were not enough.)

"Ang katotohanan po, sa [Annual Implementation Plan] po ng city, ni-request na po namin na ang city na ang magpopondo. Naglaan po ang city ng P200 million para po ma-complete lang ang proyektong ito. AIP po iyon for 2026.”

(The truth is, in the city's annual implementation plan, the city requested that it would fund the project. The city allocated P200 million to complete it. It is part of the AIP for 2026.)

“Once funded po ‘yung P180 million, magkakaroon po ng panibagong completion date. Pero we'll see to it na ang LGU, hindi naman nagpapabaya sa mga ganitong programa, especially health ito. Taga Marikina po ang makikinabang dito kaya hindi po namin pababayaan,” he added.

(Once the P180 million is funded, it will have a new completion date. But we'll see to it that the LGU does not neglect these kinds of problems, especially concerning public health. The people of Marikina will benefit from it so we will not neglect it.)

GMA News Online has reached out to the Department of Health to comment on Marikina’s response. — BM, GMA Integrated News