CEBU CITY, Philippines — The long-delayed Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) has hit another major roadblock, with defective work from previous construction phases and unresolved legal and contractual issues threatening to further derail the city’s most important public hospital project.
More than a decade after reconstruction began, the hospital remains unfinished despite P1.13 billion already spent and contracts worth a combined P1.904 billion having been awarded for the project.
Now, Cebu City officials and councilors are confronting an increasingly difficult question:
How can construction move forward when parts of the hospital built years ago may be defective — and previous contracts may still be legally unresolved?
Fresh Setback Hits Phase 5 Construction
The latest problems emerged as the current contractor, Dakay Construction and Development Corp., worked on Phase 5 and attempted to connect new construction with sections built during earlier phases.
Engineers discovered that some older portions of the hospital required further technical assessment because they did not meet required engineering and safety standards, according to SunStar Cebu.
The findings forced the city to slow or pause parts of the project while engineers conduct tests and determine whether affected structures can still be repaired or must be replaced.
The latest technical review has already added approximately 45 days of delay, according to SunStar’s July report.
Cebu City Council Now Wants Answers
The controversy intensified on September 10 after the Cebu City Council called for answers over the unfinished hospital and the unresolved problems involving previous construction phases.
Councilor Dave Tumulak, chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, said an executive session had been called to determine how Phase 5 could proceed while issues from earlier phases remained unresolved.
The council is seeking clarification on the contractual, financial and technical problems that have accumulated over more than a decade of construction.
The latest development means the CCMC project is no longer just facing an engineering problem.
It is now facing a complicated mix of defective construction, unfinished contracts, legal questions and financial accountability issues.
COA Flags More Than a Decade of Problems
The Commission on Audit (COA) has already raised serious concerns about the hospital project in its 2025 Annual Audit Report.
According to reporting on the audit findings, the CCMC project consists of five infrastructure contracts with a total value of approximately P1.904 billion.
As of December 31, 2025, Cebu City had spent approximately P1.13 billion.
Yet only Phase I had been completed, while other phases remained unfinished or were affected by delays and contract problems.
COA identified several major issues, including:
- Inadequate detailed engineering
- Repeated design revisions
- Long project suspensions
- Terminated construction contracts
- Structural and installation deficiencies
- Missing engineering documents
- Questions over payments and possible overpayments
- Systems that remained incomplete or nonfunctional
The audit findings paint a troubling picture of a project repeatedly delayed by problems that began long before the latest administration took office.
Missing Documents Raise Accountability Questions
One of the most serious issues flagged by auditors involved missing technical records.
According to the COA findings reported by SunStar, the city’s engineering department failed to submit important documents for project components worth approximately P897.34 million.
The missing records reportedly included documents such as:
- Approved plans
- Detailed cost estimates
- Engineering records
- Accomplishment reports
Without complete documentation, auditors said they could not fully determine whether certain costs and payments were reasonable.
That raises major concerns over accountability for one of Cebu City’s biggest public infrastructure projects.
Defective Work Cannot Simply Be Removed
The discovery of substandard construction has created another complicated problem for Cebu City.
Officials cannot simply demolish or remove questionable installations without proper documentation and technical assessment.
The Department of Health has instructed the city to conduct technical testing before deciding whether defective portions can be repaired or must be replaced.
Meanwhile, COA has required the city to properly document taxpayer-funded installations before components are removed or altered.
That means engineers must first answer a critical question:
Can the existing structures be saved safely, or will Cebu City have to spend even more money rebuilding work that has already been paid for?
Mayor Says Defects Were Inherited
Cebu City Mayor Nestor Archival has acknowledged that some parts of the hospital were found to be substandard but said the deficiencies were connected to work completed before his administration.
Archival has maintained that his administration’s priority is to finish the project while coordinating with COA and the Department of Health.
He has previously targeted December 2026 for completion, although the latest technical and contractual issues have created fresh uncertainty over whether that target can still be achieved.
The mayor has also said previous contractors could potentially be required to correct defective work, depending on the outcome of the technical assessments and legal review.
A Hospital Project 12 Years in the Making
The CCMC reconstruction project began after the old hospital building was badly damaged during the 2013 Bohol earthquake and later declared unsafe.
What was supposed to be a replacement public hospital has since become one of Cebu City’s longest-running infrastructure projects.
Over the years, the project has been affected by:
- Multiple contractors
- Design changes
- Engineering problems
- Contract terminations
- Construction suspensions
- Legal complications
- Missing documentation
- Defective installations
Earlier investigations also raised concerns about structural defects, including problems involving columns, concrete surfaces and beams.
P700 Million Phase 5 Contract Under Pressure
Phase 5 represents a major part of the effort to finally complete the hospital.
The city had allocated approximately P700 million for the phase, which covers further construction and completion work.
But the project cannot move forward smoothly if new construction has to be connected to older sections that require safety testing and technical review.
The problem highlights one of the biggest risks facing long-delayed infrastructure projects:
New contractors can inherit old problems — and taxpayers can end up paying twice.
Cebu City Could Need Hundreds of Millions More
Completing the hospital could require substantially more funding.
Recent estimates cited in SunStar reporting include:
- P700 million for Phase 5
- Up to P400 million being considered for structural repairs
- P300 million requested from the Department of Health for medical equipment
The equipment requirements include essential hospital technology and facilities such as:
- MRI equipment
- X-ray machines
- Laboratory equipment
- Dialysis units
- Operating room facilities
If extensive rebuilding is required, the final cost could place even greater pressure on Cebu City’s finances.
The Biggest Losers Are Cebu City’s Patients
Behind the contracts, audit reports and political disputes is a much bigger issue:
Cebu City residents are still waiting for a fully completed public hospital.
The completed CCMC is expected to significantly increase capacity from approximately 150 beds to around 400 beds, helping address overcrowding and expand access to public healthcare.
City officials have also considered a floor-by-floor completion strategy that would allow hospital services to gradually move into finished areas while other sections are rehabilitated.
But every new delay pushes the full benefits further into the future.
Could the Hospital Open in 2027?
Officials had previously hoped that parts of the expanded facility could begin operating in 2027, even if other sections still required completion.
However, the latest controversy over defective construction and unresolved contracts has placed those plans under renewed pressure.
The city must first resolve several difficult issues:
1. Are the older structures safe?
Engineers must complete technical assessments.
2. Can defective work be repaired?
Authorities need to determine whether repair is possible or replacement is necessary.
3. Who pays for the defects?
The city may seek accountability from previous contractors if legal and contractual grounds exist.
4. Can Phase 5 proceed?
The City Council is now demanding clarification on how new construction can continue while earlier-phase issues remain unresolved.
5. Where is the complete documentation?
COA has demanded records needed to properly evaluate hundreds of millions of pesos in project components.
The Bigger Question: Who Is Accountable?
The CCMC crisis is increasingly becoming a major test of government accountability.
After more than a decade, billions of pesos in contracts and multiple changes in contractors and administrations, the public is still waiting for answers.
The project has survived several political administrations.
It has gone through multiple contractors.
And it has been subjected to audits, reviews and technical investigations.
Yet it remains unfinished.
For critics, the case raises a fundamental question:
How did a project intended to provide life-saving healthcare become trapped in more than a decade of engineering, contractual and administrative problems?
The Bottom Line
The Cebu City Medical Center was supposed to be a major investment in public healthcare.
Instead, it has become one of the city’s most persistent infrastructure headaches.
More than P1.13 billion has already been spent.
Contracts have reached approximately P1.904 billion.
Defective work has been discovered.
Important documents have been missing.
Previous contracts remain under scrutiny.
And now Phase 5 itself is facing fresh questions.
Cebu City officials still want to complete the hospital.
But before the project can finally move forward, they must deal with the mistakes left behind.
The biggest challenge is no longer simply building the hospital.
It is fixing everything that went wrong before the hospital can be safely finished.
For Cebu City’s residents, the wait for a modern, expanded public medical centre continues.
And with new legal, technical and financial hurdles emerging, the question is becoming harder to ignore:
When will the Cebu City Medical Center finally be finished — and how much more will it cost taxpayers to get there?
WWC ONE MEDIA J.M.D
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