CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Pay up, please!
A prestigious university here has reminded the city government of its over P7.8-million debt for using two of its dormitories as isolation units in this city during the pandemic, particularly from March 2020 to April 2022.
THE executive building of Cagayan de Oro City Hall. (Franck Dick Rosete)
The office of Mayor Rolando Uy received a letter from the Xavier University (XU)-Ateneo de Cagayan on January 3 billing the city government P7,805,365 – P3,954,225 for the use of the Searsolin dorm and P3,581,140 for the Manresa dorm.
Uy, through BenCyrus Ellorin, political spokesperson, said on January 11 that the debt of the previous administration was raised after former Mayor Oscar Moreno allegedly criticized the current administration for “not honoring obligations to contractors and suppliers.”
Moreno said that the current administration seems to have forgotten the “principle of continuity,” explaining that the debt of the city government is the obligation of the city government and not the debt of the city chief executive.
“If that is their way to manage the city, the city will be very pitiful because they don’t understand,” Moreno said in his radio program on Friday, January 12, broadcast in his Facebook page.
CAGAYAN de Oro City Mayor Rolando Uy answers questions from the media in a press conference at the City Mayor’s Office on January 15. (Franck Dick Rosete)
Uy said on Monday, January 15, that he is aware of the “continuity” that Moreno talked about but wants to know why the previous administration was unable to settle the debt.
The incumbent city chief executive said that he would not have raised the issue if Moreno did not accuse him of not paying this city’s current liabilities.
Moreno debunked Uy’s statement that his administration did not pay XU for 25 months. He said that aside from providing Covid-19 updates in his daily press briefings, he always monitored payables.
“Would the Xavier (University) allow (the city) to use that facility without paying for 25 months? My God. It defies logic,” Moreno said on Monday.
Moreno said that the city government received reimbursements from all isolation units and Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facilities (TTMF) here during the height of the pandemic through PhilHealth, adding that the agency had paid P20 to P30 million before he stepped down as mayor.
PhilHealth Circular 2020-0018 that aims to provide coverage for all Filipinos for health services in identified community isolation units (CIU) for Covid-19 through the Covid-19 Community Isolation Benefit Package (CCIBP) states that a CIU, through its partner facility, can file a claim for patients who were discharged after providing all mandatory services. Claims shall be paid to the CIU or through its partner facility, if applicable.
The circular also stated that CCIBP shall cover all inputs and activities within the entire episode of care at the CIU, including payment for staff and professional fees, medicines, diagnostics, transport, and other operational costs.
FORMER Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno answers questions from the media in an interview at his office on Burgos-Pacana St., Cagayan de Oro on January 15. (Franck Dick Rosete)
Moreno said that there is another P20 to P30 million that needs to be reimbursed by the government-run insurance corporation from filed claims but he has no idea if this has been received by the city government through the current administration.
Uy said that the city also owes other establishments for using their rooms as quarantine facilities. He asked these establishments to write him a letter about their obligations.
The city government budget, accounting, and finance offices are preparing requirements for payment.