DOH says Marikina pledged to fund completion of unfinished health center in 2022

ANTIPOLO CITY—The Department of Health (DOH) on Thursday denied Marikina’s accusations that it failed to provide funding for an incomplete Super Health Center in the city.

During an inspection in Antipolo City, the DOH said that a letter from Marikina City in December 2022 said that the city would be completing the project and hiring personnel with local government funds.

The letter, which was signed by then-mayor Marcelino Teodoro, was in contrast to earlier claims that they were unable to operate due to DOH’s failure to provide funding.

DOH says that Marikina City, in 2022, pledged to allocate budget for the Concepcion Dos Health Center. Said health center was found incomplete and inoperational on Wednesday, to which the local government said was due to lack of budget provided by DOH. @gmanews @gmanewsbreaking pic.twitter.com/6VChH6bCun

— Jiselle Casucian (@jaycecasucian) October 16, 2025

DOH Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said that with the budget they have provided for the center, it should have already been operational.

“One super health center can be finished with about 15 million [pesos], and about 5 million [pesos] for equipment. With about 20 million [pesos], you have something like [Antipolo]. Yun kasi [sa Marikina,] ang daming modification. (The one in Marikina has many modifications.) I don’t know what they want to build,” he spoke.

During his inspection of the unfinished Concepcion Dos Super Health Center in Marikina on Wednesday, Herbosa said that the city had changed its mind and decided it wanted a four-storey structure instead of the originally planned two-level building, so funds for other health centers were transferred to the project to make this happen.

“Ang nangyari kasi nung nagpa-modify sila, the previous mayor, sabi nila sila na lang ang gagastos, so hindi totoo yung di ko sila binigyan ng pondo. [This document] certifies that the city government na po ang magpopondo ng remaining budget… The city already committed to finish it, and then sinabing the city has also allocated a budget for the hiring of additional workers and technical health personnel of the Concepcion Dos Super Health Center. Hindi namin kasalanan,” he added.

(What happened is that when they modified, the previous mayor said that they would be funding it, so it’s not true that I didn’t give them funding. [This document] certifies that the city government was going to fund the remaining budget… The city already committed to finish it, and then said that the city has also allocated a budget for the hiring of additional workers and technical health personnel of the Concepcion Dos Super Health Center. This is not our fault.)

Marikina says delays are on DOH

While they admitted that they committed to completing and allocating funding for the health center in 2022, the Marikina City government said that DOH had been delayed in providing funding for the health center.

According to former mayor Teodoro, the project would have been completed by 2022 if not for delays from the DOH that led to a December 2023 implementation.

They also said that several factors led to Marikina’s inability to provide the promised funding, which was why they requested for the alleged additional funding from DOH.

“The former mayor reiterated that the P21.5 million fund from DOH is not enough to fully construct the four-storey building which is not just an ordinary facility as it will also cater to people with special needs, and the facility will also serve as a specialty facility,” read the statement.

The local government said that they would instead proceed with the construction and completion of the facility using city funding, and that the health center was “not a ghost project” but a result of a misunderstanding due to lack of coordination and factual validation.

“It’s a simple case of miscommunication that could have been avoided should the DOH conducted due diligence… Inaasahan lang sana natin magkaroon ng tamang koordinasyon at komunikasyon ang DOH at local government. Nabigla ang local government na may bigla na lang pumunta at wala namang nagsabi tungkol sa inspection at nagbigay pa ng pahayag na para bang may maling ginawa o ginagawa na nakakasira sa magandang partnership ng national at local government. Nawawala ang whole-of-government approach,” said former mayor Teodoro.

(It’s a simple case of miscommunication that could have been avoided should the DOH conducted due diligence… We only hope that there will be proper coordination and communication between the DOH and local government. The local government was surprised that someone suddenly arrived with no communication about the inspection and provided statements as if we did something wrong or destructive for the good partnership between the national and local government. The whole-of-government approach is missing.)

"Ang katotohonan ay hindi pinapa-vlog—Ito ay dapat bine-verify, iniimbestigahan, at pinanagutan,” he added.

(The trust is not vlogged—This must be verified, investigated, and held accountable for.) — BM, GMA Integrated News