Palawan Governor Jose Alvarez has promised to provide a 10-hectare piece of provincial government property in Barangay Irawan for the construction of a new hospital in Puerto Princesa City.
During Sen. Christopher Lawrence Go’s monitoring visit Wednesday to the Malasakit Center at the Ospital ng Palawan (ONP), Alvarez said that they would offer land for the construction of a 500-bed capacity, two-story hospital in the city.
He said the new hospital will decongest the ONP, which is already overcrowded.
“Ito [ang ONP] ay wala pang isang ektarya pero itong ospital na ito ay siksikan ang mga building. Dati itong provincial hospital, before [my term] ay binalik ito sa DOH (Department of Health). Siksikan, wala ng breathing space,” he said.
“Minabuti namin na imbes na dito ilagay ang expansion kasi airport area ito ay mayroon akong ibibigay na sampung ektarya for a five hundred-bed hospital. Mangyayari ‘yon because DOH is very supportive to Palawan,” Alvarez added.
He said that 10-hectare is a part of the 500-hectare property of the provincial government in Irawan.
In 2019, Palawan Reps. Gil Acosta Jr. (3rd District, Palawan), Cyrille Abueg-Zaldivar (2nd District, Palawan), and Franz Josef George E. Alvarez (1st District, Palawan) jointly pushed for House Bill No. 1621 or the Western Philippines Medical Center Charter Act of 2019 to establish a hospital in Puerto Princesa City.
The Provincial Board also passed a resolution supporting this measure, which was authored by Board Member Ryan Maminta.
“Provincial government property ito, d’yan lang sa Irawan [kasi] limang daang ektarya mayroon d’yan ang provincial government. Ang city ay binigyan din natin ng 23 hectares. ‘Yong 500 bed hospital ay pagtulungan para malipat doon. ‘Yong House Bill ni Congressman Acosta na ospital ay doon na natin ilagay,” Alvarez said.