Bet vows to build Tabuelan hospital

One of the priorities of congressional aspirant Benhur Salimbangon if elected to Congress is the establishment of a public hospital in the municipality of Tabuelan, the smallest town in the fourth district that also happens to be far away from the neighboring district hospitals.

Salimbangon was applauded by around 3,000 people when he announced it in his speech during the One Cebu-Kampi rally Wednesday evening in the Tabuelan town plaza led by mayoralty candidate Zito "Titing" Gallo.

Salimbangon said that had he been elected congressman in 1998, the hospital would have already been realized. He lost to Rep. Clavel Asas-Martinez, whose son Bogo Mayor Celestino "Tining" Martinez III is also seeking election to Congress.

He stressed that part of his Priority Development Assistance Fund will be allocated for the hospital while the monthly income of the Tabuelan port, around P50,000 per month, will be used for the maintenance of the hospital and the purchase of drugs and medicines.

The municipality of the Tabuelan is located in the west coast of the midnorthern part of the province of Cebu and the neighboring hospitals are the Tuburan District Hospital in Tuburan, Severo Verallo Memorial District Hospital in Bogo and Juan Dosado Memorial Hospital in Sogod, all far from Tabuelan.

There are other towns in the fourth district that have no hospital but have easy access to nearby hospitals due to their geographical location, unlike the mountainous Tabuelan.

Salimbangon also said that with his PDAF, he will contribute at least P10 million each year to Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City for those patients from the towns in the fourth district who are referred to this hospital.

Salimbangon learned that the fourth district has no contribution to the VSMMC which, he believes, is the reason why so many patients coming from the district are not attended to immediately in the hospital. - Gregg M. Rubio/BRP