Former mayor defends NCGH’s OPD proj, cites compliance with bldg code

By Paulo DS. Papa

FORMER Naga City mayor and now Camarines Sur’s 3rd district representative Nelson Legacion has maintained that the construction of the Naga City General Hospital's Outpatient Department (OPD) building complied with existing laws and regulations.

Earlier, Mayor Leni Robredo disclosed that the construction of the hospital's OPD building had been completed without a soil test report, quoting the statement made by an engineer who was among those who inspected the government facility.

City Legal Officer Atty. Angel Ojastro said that a soil test is a mandatory requirement for certain infrastructure projects under Presidential Decree No. 1096, or the National Building Code of the Philippines. He added that public officials responsible for projects that fail to comply with applicable legal requirements may face administrative and criminal charges.

On Monday, July 13, Legacion, who proposed the OPD project during his term as mayor, said that under Section 302, Paragraph C of the National Building Code, only buildings with more than three floors are required to have a soil test.

He also cited Section 24 of City Ordinance No. 1997-081, or the Revised Building Code of the City of Naga, which likewise requires a soil test only for buildings with four or more floors.

According to Legacion, buildings with only one or two floors are not required to undergo a soil test before construction.

Meanwhile, Robredo clarified that her statement regarding the OPD project was based on the findings of the inspection conducted by the Project Monitoring Committee at the hospital.

She said similar inspections will also be conducted on other existing and completed projects in the city as part of her responsibility as mayor, regardless of whether such actions may offend some individuals.

The OPD project was authorized for funding under City Ordinance No. 2021-041, which was enacted on June 1, 2021. Construction was completed around the third quarter of 2023.

As of this writing, the exact cost of the OPD building remains unclear. However, the construction of the entire hospital was funded under City Ordinance No. 2023-070 through a ₱350-million loan from the Development Bank of the Philippines and ₱150 million from local or external funding sources.